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. E-pub ahead of print

    Resilience and the Sustainable Development Goals: a scrutiny of urban strategies in the 100 Resilient Cities initiative

    Kochskämper, E., Glass, L.-M., Haupt, W., Malekpour, S. & Grainger-Brown, J., 24.01.2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 27 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Resilience, Entrepreneurship and ICT: Latest Research from Germany, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia

    Halberstadt, J. (Editor), Faasch, H. (Editor), Marx Gómez, J. (Editor), Greyling, J. (Editor) & Mufeti, T. K. (Editor), 2021, Cham: Springer. 420 p. (CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  3. Published

    Resilience or vulnerability? Vegetation patterns of a Central Tibetan pastoral ecotone

    Miehe, G., Miehe, S., Bach, K., Wesche, K., Seeber, E., Behrendes, L., Kaiser, K., Reudenbach, C., Nölling, J., Hanspach, J., Herrmann, M., Yaoming, M. & Mosbrugger, V., 2013, Steppe Ecosystems: Biological Diversity, Management and Restoration. Morales Prieto, M. B. & Traba Diaz, J. (eds.). Hauppage, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., p. 111-151 41 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  4. Published

    Resilience principles and a leverage points perspective for sustainable woody vegetation management in a social-ecological system of southwestern Ethiopia

    Shumi, G., Wahler, H., Riechers, M., Senbeta, F., Abson, D. J., Schultner, J. & Fischer, J., 01.06.2023, In: Ecology and Society. 28, 2, 31 p., 34.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Resilienz und Reallabore als Schlüsselkonzepte urbaner Transitionsforschung: Zwölf Thesen

    De Flander, K., Hahne, U., Kegler, H., Lang, D. J., Lucas, R., Schneidewind, U., Simon, K.-H., Singer-Brodowski, M., Wanner, M. & Wiek, A., 10.10.2014, In: GAIA. 23, 3, p. 284-286 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published
  7. Published

    Resolving potential conflicts between different heathland ecosystem services through adaptive management

    Alonso, I. & Härdtle, W., 14.07.2015, In: Ecological Questions. 21, p. 101-103 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Resource Allocation in Startup Teams: Exploring Entrepreneurial Coping with Radical Uncertainty during the Corona Pandemic

    Yahyaoui, Y., Farny, S., Jakob, E. & Steinmetz, H., 14.06.2022, Frontiers of entrepreneurship research 2021: proceedings. Zacharakis, A. (ed.). MDPI AG, p. 331-334 3 p. (Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Resource availability determines the importance of niche-based versus stochastic community assembly in grasslands

    Conradi, T., Temperton, V. M. & Kollmann, J., 08.2017, In: Oikos. 126, 8, p. 1134-1141 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Resources or landmarks: which factors drive homing success in Tetragonula carbonaria foraging in natural and disturbed landscapes?

    Leonhardt, S. D., Kaluza, B. F., Wallace, H. & Heard, T. A., 01.10.2016, In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 202, 9-10, p. 701-708 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review