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

    Values-based barriers and good practices in sustainability-oriented innovation management

    Ivanov, K., 03.2025, In: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 32, 2, p. 1393-1411 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  2. Published

    VALUES-BASED BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION-THE CASE OF ECOSIA AND ITS BUSINESS MODEL

    Ivanov, K., 09.07.2022, In: International Journal of Innovation Management. 26, 5, 41 p., 2240002.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Values in transformational sustainability science: four perspectives for change

    Horcea-Milcu, A.-I., Abson, D. J., Apetrei, C. I., Duse, I. A., Freeth, R., Riechers, M., Lam, D. P. M., Dorninger, C. & Lang, D. J., 02.09.2019, In: Sustainability Science. 14, 5, p. 1425-1437 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Values shift in response to social learning through deliberation about protected areas

    Andrade, R., van Riper, C. J., Goodson, D. J., Johnson, D. N., Stewart, W., López-Rodríguez, M. D., Cebrián-Piqueras, M. A., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Lo, V. & Raymond, C. M., 01.01.2023, In: Global Environmental Change. 78, 12 p., 102630.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Valuing beaches for beauty and recreation only? Uncovering perception bias through a hashtag analysis

    Wahler, H., Fanini, L. & Riechers, M., 01.09.2023, In: Marine Policy. 155, 105707.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Valuing Climate Change Effects Upon UK Agricultural GHG Emissions: Spatial Analysis of a Regulating Ecosystem Service

    Abson, D., Termansen, M., Pascual, U., Aslam, U., Fezzi, C. & Bateman, I. J., 02.2014, In: Environmental and Resource Economics. 57, 2, p. 215-231 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Valuing electronic devices? User narratives and their role for durability

    Hipp, T. & Fischer, D., 18.10.2023, Durable Economies: Organizing the Material Foundations of Society. Jaeger-Erben, M., Wiesner, H., Marwede, M. & Hoffmann, F. (eds.). Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, p. 131-157 27 p. (Labor and Organization; vol. 10).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Variation in nectar quality across 34 grassland plant species

    Venjakob, C., Ruedenauer, F. A., Klein, A.-M. & Leonhardt, S. D., 01.01.2022, In: Plant Biology. 24, 1, p. 134-144 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Variation in short-term and long-term responses of photosynthesis and isoprenoid-mediated photoprotection to soil water availability in four Douglas-fir provenances

    Junker, L. V., Kleiber, A., Jansen, K., Wildhagen, H., Hess, M., Kayler, Z., Kammerer, B., Schnitzler, J.-P., Kreuzwieser, J., Gessler, A. & Ensminger, I., 10.01.2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 16 p., 40145.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Vasodilatierende Substanzen in Kläranlagenabläufen und Oberflächengewässern

    Hensen, B., Faubel, C., Palm, W.-U. & Steffen, D., 04.2017, Wasser, Energie und Umwelt: Aktuelle Beiträge aus der Zeitschrift Wasser und Abfall I. Porth, M. & Schüttrumpf, H. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer, p. 208-215 8 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Network Governance Code: enhancing competitiveness of enterprises and their networks by self-regulation
  2. 19. Kongress für Fremdsprachendidaktik der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Fremdsprachenforschung - DGFF 2001
  3. Disaggregating Democracy and the Legitimization of Functionally Fragmented Governance beyond the State
  4. Modellieren und Problemlösen – Kompetenzorientierter Mathematikunterricht in der Sekundarstufe I (Teil I)
  5. Deutschlands grüne Insel. Eine imagologische Analyse des Irlandbildes in der deutschsprachigen Literatur.
  6. Zur Arbeits‐ und Gesundheitssituation von Schulleitungen aus Niedersachsen Erste Ergebnisse einer Studie.
  7. Modellieren und Problemlösen – Kompetenzorientierter Mathematikunterricht in der Sekundarstufe I (Teil II)
  8. Annual International Conference of the Kolleg-Forschergruppe "The Transformative Power of Europe" - KFG 2013
  9. Symposium des Instituts für Deutsches und Internationales Parteienrecht und Parteienforschung - PRuF 2011
  10. 10. Kongress der Internationalen Vereinigung für Germanistische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft - IVG 2000
  11. Konferenz des European Consortium for Political Research's Standing Group on International Relations - 2010
  12. Prävention von Leseschwierigkeiten. Wieso das Lesenlernen nicht nur ein grundschuldidaktisches Problem ist
  13. ADORE. Teaching Adolescent Struggling Readers - How to explore "good practice" in encouraging struggling readers?
  14. Eröffnungsvortrag auf der Tagung 'Intercultural Connections within German and Irish Children’s Literature' 2004

Publications

  1. Trading many goods with many countries: Exporters and importers from German manufacturing industries
  2. The Role of an SME’s Green Strategy in Public-Private Eco-innovation Initiatives: The Case of Ecoprofit
  3. Taking stock–Three years of addressing societal challenges on community level through action research
  4. “How complex and even perverse the real world can be” W.D. Hamilton's early work on social wasps (1964–1968)
  5. Anforderungen eines sozial-ökologischen Stoffstrommanagments an technische Ver- und Entsorgungssysteme
  6. Leverage points for reversing paddock tree loss in Upper Lachlan grazing landscapes: A workshop report.
  7. Where is paradise? The EU's navigation system Galileo - Some comments on inherent risks (or paradise lost)
  8. Die Steuerberaterprüfung: Verfahrensrecht, Umsatzsteuerrecht, Erbschaftsteuerrecht, Grunderwerbsteuerrecht
  9. Auswirkungen der Aufgabenverteilung in Führungsteams im Lichte organisationstheoretischer Erkenntnisse
  10. Abschied von der Perichorese ? Asymmetrische Reziprozität als Bedingung der Entzogenheit im Wesen Gottes
  11. Hat eine freiwillige Mitgliedschaft in Berufsverbänden einen Effekt auf das Einkommen von Freiberuflern ?
  12. Comparing the Sensitivity of Social Networks, Web Graphs, and Random Graphs with Respect to Vertex Removal
  13. Erstnachweis der Südlichen Mosaikjungfer Aeshna affinis VAN DER LINDEN 1823 für Schleswig-Holstein (Odonata)
  14. Disentangling ecosystem services perceptions from blue infrastructure around a rapidly expanding megacity
  15. Die Pfändung von Anteilen an einer englischen Kapitalgesellschaft (private/public company limited by shares)
  16. Internationale Besteuerung von mittelständischen Unternehmen in der Rechtsform von Personengesellschaften
  17. The impact of female managers on the gender pay gap: Evidence from linked employer–employee data for Germany