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
  2. Published

    Tentative Theses on Transformative Research in Real-World Laboratories: First Insights from the Accompanying Research ForReal

    Schäpke, N., Stelzer, F., Bergmann, M. & Lang, D. J., 01.11.2016, In: Technikfolgenabschätzung. 25, 3, p. 45-51 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  3. Published

    The development of an eco-label for software products: A transdisciplinary process?

    Kern, E., 2016, INFORMATIK 2016. Mayr, H. C. & Pinzger, M. (eds.). Bonn: Köllen Verlag, p. 1285-1296 12 p. (Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Proceedings - Series of the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (GI); vol. P-259).

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

  4. Published

    Geschlecht der Inklusion

    Budde, J. (Editor), Offen, S. (Editor) & Tervooren, A. (Editor), 2016, Opladen: Verlag Babara Budrich. 181 p. (Jahrbuch Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung in der Erziehungswissenschaft; vol. 12/2016)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  5. Published

    Linking the multi-level perspective with social representations theory: Gasifiers as a niche innovation reinforcing the energy-from-waste (EfW) regime

    Levidow, L. & Upham, P., 01.07.2017, In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 120, p. 1-13 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Putting sustainable chemistry and resource use into context: The role of temporal diversity

    Weiser, A., Lang, D. J. & Kümmerer, K., 01.06.2017, In: Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy. 5, p. 105-114 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Non-native populations of an invasive tree outperform their native conspecifics

    Hirsch, H., Hensen, I., Wesche, K., Renison, D., Wypior, C., Hartmann, M. & von Wehrden, H., 13.10.2016, In: AoB PLANTS. 8, 11 p., plw071.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    South America's biophysical involvement in international trade: The physical trade balances of Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil in the light of ecologically unequal exchange

    Dorninger, C. & Eisenmenger, N., 01.12.2016, In: Journal of Political Ecology. 23, 1, p. 394-409 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Energy transitions and national development indicators: A global review of nuclear energy production

    Gralla, F., Abson, D. J., Møller, A. P., Lang, D. J. & von Wehrden, H., 04.2017, In: Renewable & Sustainble Energy Reviews. 70, p. 1251-1265 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Many pathways toward sustainability: not conflict but co-learning between transition narratives

    Lüderitz, C., Abson, D. J., Audet, R. & Lang, D. J., 01.05.2017, In: Sustainability Science. 12, 3, p. 393-407 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review