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

    Foraging wireworms are attracted to root-produced volatile aldehydes

    Barsics, F., Delory, B. M., Delaplace, P., Francis, F., Fauconnier, M. L., Haubruge, É. & Verheggen, F. J., 01.02.2017, In: Journal of Pest Science. 90, 1, p. 69-76 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Integration der Ressourceneffizienz in die Ökodesign Richtlinie: Regelungsrahmen und Regelungsmöglichkeiten - Bestandsaufnahme

    Schomerus, C.-T. & Spengler, L., 05.2012, Hamburg: ÖKOPOL Institut für Ökologie und Politik GmbH, 52 p. (Arbeitspapier; no. FKZ 3708 95 300 ).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  3. Published

    Contaminated sediment in Ramsar wetlands; A challenge towards sustainable management of sensitive ecosystems

    Materu, S. F., Urban, B. & Heise, S., 2015, 2015 Regional Conference of the International Network of Women Engineers & Scientists: Book of Abstracts. African Women in Science & Engineering, p. 37 1 p.

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

  4. Published

    Business Models for Sustainability: A Co-Evolutionary Analysis of Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Transformation

    Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Hansen, E. G., 01.09.2016, In: Organization & Environment. 29, 3, p. 264-289 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Energizing marginal soils - The establishment of the energy crop Sida hermaphrodita as dependent on digestate fertilization, NPK, and legume intercropping

    Nabel, M., Temperton, V. M., Poorter, H., Lücke, A. & Jablonowski, N. D., 01.04.2016, In: Biomass and Bioenergy. 87, p. 9-16 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Sorption and thermal characterization of composite materials based on chlorides for thermal energy storage

    Korhammer, K., Druske, M.-M., Fopah Lele, A., Rammelberg, H., Wegscheider, N., Opel, O., Osterland, T. & Ruck, W., 15.01.2016, In: Applied Energy. 162, p. 1462-1472 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Disaggregated contributions of ecosystem services to human well-being: a case study from Eastern Europe

    Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Leventon, J., Hanspach, J. & Fischer, J., 01.08.2016, In: Regional Environmental Change. 16, 6, p. 1779-1791 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Putting Architecture in its Social Space: the Fields and Skills of Planning Maastricht

    Herberg, J., 01.01.2015, Architecture, Materiality and Society: Connecting Sociology of Architecture with Science and Technology Studies. Müller, A.-L. & Reichmann, W. (eds.). Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 166-197 32 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  9. Published

    Ökonomistische Diskurse der Nachhaltigkeit: Bestimmende Momente und die Frage nach Alternativen

    Meyer, E. M. & Vilsmaier, U., 08.2017, Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaften und die Suche nach neuen Wissensordnungen. Pfister, T. (ed.). 1 ed. Weimar: Metropolis Verlag, p. 147-168 22 p.

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

  10. Published

    Feld oder Assemblage? Die Bildungsbroker des Fachkräftemangels in der Bucht von San Francisco

    Herberg, J., 2017, Macht in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. : Diskurs- und feldanalytische Perspektiven. Hamann, J., Maeße, J., Gengnagel, V. & Hirschfeld, A. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 259-290 32 p.

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