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. Published

    Contribution of Pollinator-Mediated Crops to Nutrients in the Human Food Supply

    Eilers, E. J., Kremen, C., Smith Greenleaf, S., Garber, A. K. & Klein, A.-M., 22.06.2011, In: PLoS ONE. 6, 6, 6 p., e21363.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Contributions of place-based social-ecological research to address global sustainability challenges

    Martín-López, B., Balvanera, P., Manson, R., Mwampamba, T. H. & Norström, A., 01.01.2020, In: Global Sustainability. 3, 4 p., e21.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  3. Published

    Contributions to Sustainability: What Kind of Information is Needed?

    Schaltegger, S., 2008, In: Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting. 2, 1, p. 1-2 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Contributions to the sustainable development goals in life cycle sustainability assessment: Insights from the Handprint research project

    Kühnen, M., Silva, S. L., Beckmann, J., Eberle, U., Hahn, R., Hermann, C., Schaltegger, S. & Schmid, M., 03.2019, In: NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum. 27, 1, p. 65-82 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Controller als Partner im Nachhaltigkeits-Management

    Petersen, H., Lühn, M., Nuzum, A.-K., Schaltegger, S. & Wenzig, J., 01.04.2021, In: Controlling & Management Review. 65, 3, p. 8-15 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Controller und Nachhaltigkeit im Kontext neuer Berichterstattungspflichten

    Lühn, M., Nuzum, A.-K., Petersen, H. & Schaltegger, S., 2022, In: REthinking: Finance. 1, p. 25-33 9 p., REF1398613.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Controlling im Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement: Unterstützung betrieblicher Entscheidungen

    Jänicke, N. T., 2011, Marburg: Tectum Verlag. 274 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  8. Published

    Control versus Complexity: Approaches to the Carbon Dioxide Problem at IIASA

    Schrickel, I., 06.2017, In: Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte. 40, 2, p. 140-159 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Cooperating With “Open Cards”—The Role of Small Intermediary Businesses in Realizing Sustainable International Coffee Supply

    Weber, H. & Wiek, A., 15.07.2021, In: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 5, 14 p., 663716.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    COPERNICUS in Lüneburg: Higher Education in the Context of Sustainable Development and Globalization

    Michelsen, G. (Editor), van Dam-Mieras, R. (Editor) & Winkelmann, H. P. (Editor), 01.09.2002, Frankfurt am Main: Verlag für Akademische Schriften. 253 p. (Innovation in den Hochschulen: Nachhaltige Entwickliung; vol. 8)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch