Organisation profile

Sustainability has many facets. Inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching characterize the School of Sustainability. Scientists in our research projects work together in the laboratory, on the heath, in the grassland, in the classroom, with the city administration, with farmers, with non-governmental organizations, with companies, with students in the lecture hall and of course at their desks.

Furthermore, we work with regional and national political actors, e.g. ministries, as well as international organizations, e.g. UNEP, UNESCO, EU. We are part of national and international bodies, e.g. sustainability advisory boards of companies, member of the German Sustainability Award, World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), in order to contribute to social change with scientific findings.

Main research areas

Vision
Sustainability science investigates on a theoretical, conceptual and empirical level how to promote sustainable development and how to find and implement effective solutions for current social and ecological challenges. The aim is to create a more sustainable future.

Sustainability researchers are called upon to take responsibility for their research, which is anchored in existing scientific knowledge and methods and serves to make the world a better place for everyone.

Mission
We promote change towards a sustainable future by developing theories, concepts and practices of inclusive education for sustainability, research, governance and management.

We acknowledge the diversity and dynamics of values, norms and behaviour and contribute with transdisciplinary methods to ensuring that tensions and differences between different disciplines, methods, topics and standards are fruitfully taken up and used with productive compromises and further developments towards sustainable development.

Principles
The School of Sustainability is guided by the normative concepts of ecological system integrity and social and economic justice.

Ecological system integrity refers to the safeguarding of life-support systems, as well as the maintenance of the well-being of life on Earth.

With social and economic justice we strive for a world in which all people can fulfil their potential without endangering system integrity and the well-being of others.

Information about the School
The School of Sustainability includes...
... ca. 25 professors
... ca. 100 research assistants
... ca. 1000 students in Bachelor and Master courses

In various inter- and transdisciplinary projects we are constantly researching and working together on changes and solutions for current challenges.

  1. 2022
  2. Published

    Telling your own stories: Teaching and learning storytelling

    Selm, H., Fischer, D., Janßen, H., Schäfer, T., Sundermann, A. & Fücker, S., 08.12.2022, Narrating Sustainability through Storytelling. Fischer, D., Fücker, S., Selm, H. & Sundermann, A. (eds.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 63-73 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  3. Published

    Connecting curricula and competence through student learning journeys

    Birdman, J., Barth, M. & Lang, D. J., 09.12.2022, In: Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy. 18, 1, p. 560-575 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Biodiversity–stability relationships strengthen over time in a long-term grassland experiment

    Wagg, C., Roscher, C., Weigelt, A., Vogel, A., Ebeling, A., de Luca, E., Roeder, A., Kleinspehn, C., Temperton, V. M., Meyer, S. T., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Buchmann, N., Fischer, M., Weisser, W. W., Eisenhauer, N. & Schmid, B., 14.12.2022, In: Nature Communications. 13, 1, 11 p., 7752.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    A framework to enable sustainability-oriented transition activities in HEIs: Learnings from two case studies in Germany and Switzerland

    Kirst, E. & Schroth, T., 15.12.2022, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 379, 134605.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published

    An automated, modular system for organic waste utilization using Hermetia illucens larvae: Design, sustainability, and economics

    Pahmeyer, M. J., Siddiqui, S. A., Pleissner, D., Gołaszewski, J., Heinz, V. & Smetana, S., 15.12.2022, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 379, Part 2, 8 p., 134727.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Food Security, Women, and Higher Education in Aceh

    Shamadiyah, N. & Amalia, N., 17.12.2022, In: Proceedings of Malikussaleh International Conference on Multidisciplinary Studies (MICoMS). 3, 6 p., 00053.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearch

  8. Published

    Transformationspfade für eine Kultur der Nachhaltigkeit an deutschen Hochschulen

    Fritz, H., Holst, J., Lang, D. J., Nölting, B., Parodi, O., Potthast, T. & Singer-Brodowski, M., 21.12.2022, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 31, 4, p. 254-256 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  9. Published

    Design principles for advancing higher education sustainability learning through transformative research

    Bernert, P., Wanner, M., Fischer, N. & Barth, M., 23.12.2022, In: Environment, Development and Sustainability. Special Issue, 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Für eine neue Ganzheitlichkeit: Nachhaltige Chemie

    Kümmerer, K. & Große Ophoff, M., 28.12.2022, In: Politische Ökologie. 40, 171, p. 90 - 96 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer

  11. Published

    Gamification and sustainable behaviour: A case study of China

    Miao, H., Saleh, M. S. M. & Zolkepli, I. A., 29.12.2022, Sustainability Communication across Asia: Fundamental Principles, Digital Strategies and Community Engagement. Saleh, M. S. M., Rahman, N. A. A. & Kasuma, S. A. A. (eds.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 123-136 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Comment on "nomenclature, Chemical Abstracts Service Numbers, Isomer Enumeration, Ring Strain, and Stereochemistry
  2. An den Grenzen der Verständigung: Politische Erwachsenenbildung und die Herausforderungen der "Flüchtlingskrise"
  3. Die Politisierung von ‚Gesellschaft‘ – Ernesto Laclaus und Chantal Mouffes postmarxistische Theorie des Sozialen
  4. Stellvertretung als allgemeines Rechtsinstitut - zu Theorie, Dogmatik und Reichweite des Repräsentationsprinzips
  5. Advantages and Disadvanteges of Different Text Coding Procedures for Research and Practice in a School Context
  6. Daniela Giannetti and Kenneth Benoit (eds.) (2009). Intra-Party Politics and Coalition Governments (Abingdon: Routledge)
  7. The necessity of disinfected toilet brushes - information policy of companies on disinfectants in private homes
  8. Highly Efficient IPT Transmitter Circuit Based on a Novel Enhanced Class B Amplifier for Consumer Applications
  9. Biodegradation tests of mercaptocarboxylic acids, their esters, related divalent sulfur compounds and mercaptans
  10. Participation in River Basin Planning Under the Water Framework Directive – Has it Benefitted Good Water Status?
  11. Der einsatz von lernstrategien in einer konkreten lernsituation bei schülern unterschiedlicher jahrgangsstufen
  12. Zur Bedeutung der Selbstwirksamkeit für eine individuelle Förderung im Unterricht mit heterogenen Lerngruppen
  13. School leaders’ innovation-related self-efficacy: professional development and learning networks make a difference
  14. La competencia intercultural y la competencia pragmática en la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera (ELE)
  15. A multivariate, multilevel analysis of the relationship between cognitive abilities and scholastic achievement
  16. Social organization influences the exchange and species richness of medicinal plants in amazonian homegardens
  17. Training im Sportunterricht – sport- und trainingspädagogische Zugänge sowie methodisch-didaktische Überlegungen
  18. Why is there not more demand for redistribution? Cross-national evidence for the role of social justice beliefs
  19. A sufficient asymptotic stability condition in generalised model predictive control to avoid input saturation
  20. Inversion of Fuzzy Neural Networks for the Reduction of Noise in the Control Loop for Automotive Applications
  21. Resonating self-tracking practices? Empirical insights into theoretical reflections on a 'sociology of resonance'
  22. On the Problems of Honorary Work in German Sports Clubs – A Qualitative-Dominated Crossover Mixed Methods Study
  23. Socio-demographic factors, entrepreneurial orientation, personal initiative, and environmental problems in Uganda
  24. Nanomechanical Analysis and Fractography of Extruded Mg-Dy-Nd Based Alloy Influenced by Solution Heat Treatment