School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- 2023
- Published
Valuing electronic devices? User narratives and their role for durability
Hipp, T. & Fischer, D., 18.10.2023, Durable Economies: Organizing the Material Foundations of Society. Jaeger-Erben, M., Wiesner, H., Marwede, M. & Hoffmann, F. (eds.). Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, p. 131-157 27 p. (Labor and Organization; vol. 10).Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
- Published
Agriculture: reform the global food system
Fischer, J., Bennett, E. & Pe’er, G., 19.10.2023, In: Nature. 622, 7983, p. 461 1 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Exploring fruitful links between real-world laboratory and disciplinary research Introduction of the DKN Future Earth working group LinkLab
Weiser, A., Wanner, M., Stelzer, F., Lang, D. J., Berger, H., Förster, A., Liedtke, C., Micklitz, H. W., Niewöhner, J., Parodi, O., Potthast, T., Schneider, F., Sörgel, F., Ziehl, M. & Ziemer, G., 27.10.2023, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 32, 3, p. 335-337 3 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Governing Agricultural Biotechnologies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany: A Trans-decadal Study of Regulatory Cultures
Ely, A., Friedrich, B., Glover, D., Fischer, K., Stone, G. D., Kingiri, A. & Schnurr, M. A., 11.2023, In: Science Technology and Human Values. 48, 6, p. 1292-1328 37 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Nile Red as a Fluorescence Marker and Antioxidant for Regenerative Fuels
Lichtinger, A., Poller, M. J., Türck, J., Schröder, O., Garbe, T., Krahl, J., Singer, A., Jakob, M. & Albert, J., 11.2023, In: Energy Technology. 11, 11, 9 p., 2300260.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Nothing lasts forever: Dominant species decline under rapid environmental change in global grasslands
Wilfahrt, P. A., Seabloom, E. W., Bakker, J. D., Biederman, L., Bugalho, M. N., Cadotte, M. W., Caldeira, M. C., Catford, J. A., Chen, Q., Donohue, I., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Haider, S., Heckman, R. W., Jentsch, A., Koerner, S. E., Komatsu, K. J., Laungani, R., MacDougall, A., Martina, J. P., Martinson, H., Moore, J. L., Niu, Y., Ohlert, T., Venterink, H. O., Orr, D., Peri, P., Pos, E., Price, J., Raynaud, X., Ren, Z., Roscher, C., Smith, N. G., Stevens, C. J., Sullivan, L. L., Tedder, M., Tognetti, P. M., Veen, C., Wheeler, G., Young, A. L., Young, H. & Borer, E. T., 11.2023, In: Journal of Ecology. 111, 11, p. 2472-2482 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
An IAD framework analysis of minigrid institutions for sustainable rural electrification in East Africa: A comparative study of Uganda and Tanzania
Namujju, L. D., Acquah-Swanzy, H. & Ngoti, I. F., 01.11.2023, In: Energy Policy. 182, 17 p., 113742.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Published
Present generation’s negotiators realize their interests at the cost of future generations
Treek, M., Majer, J. M., Zhang, H., Zhang, K. & Trötschel, R., 01.11.2023, In: Journal of Environmental Psychology. 91, 102126.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Within-individual leaf trait variation increases with phenotypic integration in a subtropical tree diversity experiment
Castro Sánchez-Bermejo, P., Davrinche, A., Matesanz, S., Harpole, W. S. & Haider, S., 01.11.2023, In: New Phytologist. 240, 4, p. 1390-1404 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Pathways towards sustainable and just futures with and for disabled populations: a leverage points perspective
Kosanic, A., Petzold, J. & Martín-López, B., 05.11.2023, In: Ecosystems and People. 19, 1, 5 p., 2274590.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review