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

    The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard: Linking Sustainability Management to Business Strategy

    Figge, F., Hahn, T., Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M., 09.2002, In: Business Strategy and the Environment. 11, 5, p. 269-284 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework for Eco-Efficiency Analysis

    Möller, A. & Schaltegger, S., 09.2005, In: Journal of Industrial Ecology. 9, 4, p. 73-83 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework to Link Environmental Management Accounting with Strategic Management

    Figge, F., Hahn, T., Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M., 2003, Environmental management accounting: Purpose and Progress. Bennett, M., Rikhardsson, P. M. & Schaltegger, S. (eds.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 17-40 24 p. (Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science; vol. 12).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  4. Published

    The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard: A Systematic Review of Architectures

    Hansen, E. G. & Schaltegger, S., 01.01.2016, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 133, 2, p. 193-221 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    The temporal and spatial development of MeV proton acceleration at interplanetary shocks

    Kallenrode, M. B., 01.10.1997, In: Journal of Geophysical Research A: Space Physics. 102, A10, p. 22347-22363 17 p., 97JA01678.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The ten principles of green sample preparation

    López-Lorente, Á. I., Pena-Pereira, F., Pedersen-Bjergaard, S., Zuin, V. G., Ozkan, S. A. & Psillakis, E., 01.03.2022, In: TrAC - Trends in Analytical Chemistry. 148, 10 p., 116530.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    The Three-Tiered Leuphana Model of Student Support

    Balsam, R., Newig, J. & Seifert, A., 20.02.2014, Lüneburg: Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Umweltkommunikation (INFU), 14 p. (INFU - Diskussionsbeiträge; no. 39/14).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  8. Published

    The tiger beetles (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae) of the southern Levant and adjacent territories: From cybertaxonomy to conservation biology

    Assmann, T., Boutaud, E., Buse, J., Gebert, J., Drees, C., Friedman, A. L. L., Khoury, F., Marcus, T., Orbach, E., Renan, I., Schmidt, C. & Zumstein, P., 05.02.2018, In: ZooKeys. 2018, 734, p. 43-103 61 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The trade-off between phosphorus recycling and health protection during the BSE crisis in Switzerland: A "disposal dilemma"

    Lamprecht, H., Lang, D., Binder, C. R. & Scholz, R. W., 06.2011, In: GAIA. 20, 2, p. 112-121 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The traditional ecological knowledge conundrum

    Hartel, T., Fischer, J., Shumi, G. & Apollinaire, W., 01.03.2023, In: Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 38, 3, p. 211-214 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch