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

    Two Decades of Sustainability Management Tools for SMEs: How Far Have We Come?

    Johnson, M. & Schaltegger, S., 01.04.2016, In: Journal of Small Business Management. 54, 2, p. 481-505 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Two degrees and the SDGs: a network analysis of the interlinkages between transnational climate actions and the Sustainable Development Goals

    Coenen, J., Glass, L.-M. & Sanderink, L., 01.07.2022, In: Sustainability Science. 17, 4, p. 1489–1510 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Two high-mountain burnet moth species (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae) react differently to the global change drivers climate and land-use

    Dieker, P., Drees, C. & Aßmann, T., 12.2011, In: Biological Conservation. 144, 12, p. 2810–2818 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Two new Lebistina Motschulsky, 1864 species from Kenya and Tanzania (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini)

    Assmann, T., Boutaud, E., Drees, C., Marcus, T., Nolte, D., Starke, W., Terlutter, H., Völler, E. & Zumstein, P., 21.02.2017, In: African Invertebrates. 58, 1, p. 9-21 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Two types of ‘enough’: sufficiency as minimum and maximum

    Spengler, L., 02.09.2016, In: Environmental Politics. 25, 5, p. 921-940 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Two-way NxP fertilisation experiment on barley (Hordeum vulgare) reveals shift from additive to synergistic N-P interactions at critical phosphorus fertilisation level

    Clayton, J., Lemanski, K., Solbach, M. D., Temperton, V. M. & Bonkowski, M., 05.03.2024, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 15, 12 p., 1346729.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Types of Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Conditions for Sustainability Innovation: From the Administration of a Technical Challenge to the Management of an Entrepreneurial Opportunity

    Schaltegger, S. & Wagner, M., 30.04.2008, Sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship: New Perspectives in Research on Corporate Sustainability series . Wüstenhagen, R., Hamschmidt, J., Sharma, S. & Starik, M. (eds.). Cheltenham [u.a.]: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 27-48 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    "Typische Gefäßpflanzenarten" des Waldes in Deutschland

    Ellenberg, H. & Oheimb, G., 2002, Biologische Vielfalt mit der Land- und Forstwirtschaft: Symposium der Arbeitsgruppe "Ökosysteme/Ressourcen" des Senats der Bundesforschungsanstalten im Geschäftsbereich des BMVEL vom 15. - 17. Mai 2001 im Forum der Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft (FAL), Braunschweig-Völkenrode. Welling, M. (ed.). Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, p. 333-336 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksPublished abstract in conference proceedingsResearch

  9. Published

    Typisierung des Umweltmanagements von Kindern und Jugendlichen in Greenteams mittels der Methode der Clusteranalyse

    Degenhardt, L., Godemann, J. & Molitor, H., 01.01.2001, Typenbildung in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Umweltforschung. Haan, G., Lantermann, E.-D., Linneweber, V. & Reusswig, F. (eds.). Opladen: Verlag Leske + Budrich, p. 293-309 17 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  10. Published

    Über die Produktivität des Reproduktiven: Der Beitrag des Konzeptes Vorsorgendes Wirtschaften zum Nachhaltigkeitsdiskurs

    Hofmeister, S., 1999, Nachhaltigkeit und Feminismus - Neue Perspektiven, alte Blockaden. Weller, I., Hoffmann, E. & Hofmeister, S. (eds.). Bielefeld: Kleine Verlag, p. 73-95 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch