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.
- Published
Contextualising urban experimentation: Analysing the utopiastadt campus case with the theory of strategic action fields
Wanner, M., Bachmann, B. & Von Wirth, T., 26.03.2021, In: Urban Planning. 6, 1, p. 235-248 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Contextualizing certification and auditing: Soy certification and access of local communities to land and water in Brazil
Schilling-Vacaflor, A., Lenschow, A., Challies, E., Cotta, B. & Newig, J., 01.04.2021, In: World Development. 140, 12 p., 105281.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Continental mapping of forest ecosystem functions reveals a high but unrealised potential for forest multifunctionality.
van der Plas, F., Ratcliffe, S., Ruiz-Benito, P., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Verheyen, K., Wirth, C., de Zavala, M. A., Ampoorter, E., Baeten, L., Barbaro, L., Bastias, C. C., Bauhus, J., Benavides, R., Benneter, A., Bonal, D., Bouriaud, O., Bruelheide, H., Bussotti, F., Carnol, M., Castagneyrol, B., Charbonnier, Y., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Dahlgren, J., Checko, E., Coppi, A., Dawud, S. M., Deconchat, M., De Smedt, P., de Wandeler, H., Domisch, T., Finér, L., Fotelli, M., Gessler, A., Granier, A., Grossiord, C., Guyot, V., Haase, J., Hättenschwiler, S., Jactel, H., Jaroszewicz, B., Joly, F.-X., Jucker, T., Kambach, S., Kaendler, G., Kattge, J., Koricheva, J., Kunstler, G., Lehtonen, A., Liebergesell, M., Manning, P., Milligan, H., Müller, S., Muys, B., Nguyen, D., Nock, C., Ohse, B., Paquette, A., Penuelas, J., Pollastrini, M., Radoglou, K., Raulund-Rasmussen, K., Roger, F., Seidl, R., Selvi, F., Stenlid, J., Valladares, F., van Keer, J., Vesterdal, L., Fischer, M., Gamfeldt, L. & Allan, E., 01.2018, In: Ecology Letters. 21, 1, p. 31-42 12 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Continental-scale ecology versus landscape-scale case studies
Fischer, J., Hanspach, J. & Hartel, T., 10.2011, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 9, 8, p. 430-430 1 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Continuous pretreatment, hydrolysis, and fermentation of organic residues for the production of biochemicals
Peinemann, J. C. & Pleißner, D., 01.2020, In: Bioresource Technology. 295, 8 p., 122256.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- Published
Contra a política de globalização neoliberal e a hierarquia nas relações de gênero: a contribuição das concepções feministas para uma economia sustentável
Gottschlich, D., 2009, In: Revista Contexto & Educação. 81, p. 1-17 17 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Published
Contrasting changes in the abundance and diversity of North American bird assemblages from 1971 to 2010
Schipper, A. M., Belmaker, J., de Miranda, M. D., Navarro, L. M., Böhning-Gaese, K., Costello, M. J., Dornelas, M., Foppen, R., Hortal, J., Huijbregts, M. A. J., Martín-López, B., Pettorelli, N., Queiroz, C., Rossberg, A. G., Santini, L., Schiffers, K., Steinmann, Z. J. N., Visconti, P., Rondinini, C. & Pereira, H. M., 01.12.2016, In: Global Change Biology. 22, 12, p. 3948-3959 12 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Contrasting temporal trends and relationships of total organic carbon, black carbon, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in rural low-altitude and remote high-altitude lakes
Bogdal, C., Bucheli, T. D., Agarwal, T., Anselmetti, F. S., Blum, F., Hungerbühler, K., Kohler, M., Schmid, P., Scheringer, M. & Sobek, A., 01.05.2011, In: Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 13, 5, p. 1316-1326 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Contributing to sustainable development pathways in the South Pacific through transdisciplinary research: Conference report
Riechers, M., Baumann, L., Braun, M., Carew, A., Chinappa, M., Dehm, J., Ganachaud, A., Holland, E., Kelsey, H., Lal, S., Landemard, M., Rocle, N. & Stockwell, B. L., 09.2024, In: Marine Policy. 167, 3 p., 106124.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Contribution of illegal hunting, culling of pest species, road accidents and feral dogs to biodiversity loss in established oil-palm landscapes
Azhar, B., Wood, J. T., Lindenmayer, D. B., Fischer, J., Manning, A. D., McElhinny, C. & Zakaria, M., 01.01.2013, In: Wildlife Research. 40, 1, p. 1-9 9 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review