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

    A synthesis of convergent reflections, tensions and silences in linking gender and global environmental change research

    Iniesta-Arandia, I., Ravera, F., Buechler, S., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Fernández-Giménez, M. E., Reed, M. G., Thompson-Hall, M., Wilmer, H., Aregu, L., Cohen, P., Djoudi, H., Lawless, S., Martín-López, B., Smucker, T., Villamor, G. B. & Wangui, E. E., 01.12.2016, In: Ambio. 45, Supplement 3, p. 383-393 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The diversity of gendered adaptation strategies to climate change of Indian farmers: A feminist intersectional approach

    Ravera, F., Martín-López, B., Pascual, U. & Drucker, A., 01.12.2016, In: Ambio. 45, 3, Supplement, p. 335-351 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Gender perspectives in resilience, vulnerability and adaptation to global environmental change

    Ravera, F., Iniesta-Arandia, I., Martín-López, B., Pascual, U. & Bose, P., 01.12.2016, In: Ambio. 45, 3, Supplement, p. 235-247 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Sustainability of rural electrification programs based on off-grid photovoltaic (PV) systems in Chile

    Feron, S., Heinrichs, H. & Cordero, R., 01.12.2016, In: Energy, Sustainability and Society. 6, 1, 19 p., 32.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Transformation products in the water cycle and the unsolved problem of their proactive assessment: A combined in vitro/in silico approach

    Menz, J., Toolaram, A. P., Rastogi, T., Leder, C., Olsson, O., Kümmerer, K. & Schneider, M., 01.01.2017, In: Environmental international. 98, p. 171-180 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    BaWü-labs on their way: Progress of real-world laboratories in Baden-Württemberg

    Wagner, F., Schäpke, N., Bergmann, M., Lang, D. J. & Stelzer, F., 01.01.2016, In: GAIA. 25, 3, p. 220-221 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Feuer kann man nicht nur sehen: Kinder erforschen Verbrennungsprozesse

    Bolek, R., 10.2016, In: Grundschule Sachunterricht. 72, p. 10-16 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesEducationpeer-review

  8. Published

    Evolution of game-play in the Australian Football League from 2001 to 2015

    Woods, C. T., Robertson, S. & Collier, N., 02.10.2017, In: Journal of Sports Sciences. 35, 19, p. 1879-1887 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Urbanes Lernen. Stadt als vielfältiges Lern- und Erfahrungsfeld - aus Sicht einer Stadtplanerin

    Edelhoff, S. H., 2016, In: Hamburg macht Schule. 28, 2, p. 24-25 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  10. Published

    Mit qualitativen "insights" aus der Nische zum Mainstream: Nachhaltiger Konsum von Körperpflegeprodukten

    Moser, A. K., Naderer, G. & Haubach, C., 2017, Innovation in der Nachhaltigkeitsforschung: Ein Beitrag zur Umsetzung der UNO Nachhaltigkeitsziele. Leal Filho, W. (ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, p. 23-38 16 p. (Theorie und Praxis der Nachhaltigkeit).

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