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

    Fast response of groundwater to heavy rainfall

    Wittenberg, H., Aksoy, H. & Miegel, K., 01.04.2019, In: Journal of Hydrology. 571, p. 837-842 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Just a small bunch of flowers: The botanical knowledge of students and the positive effects of courses in plant identification at German universities

    Buck, T., Bruchmann, I., Zumstein, P. & Drees, C., 13.03.2019, In: PeerJ. 7, 3, 23 p., e6581.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Building a Coalition with Depoliticized Sustainability Discourse: The Case of a Transdisciplinary Transition Management Arena in Peru

    Noboa, E., Upham, P. J. & Heinrichs, H., 31.01.2019, In: Journal of Sustainable Development. 12, 1, p. 84-107 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Monitoring environmental effects on farmland Lepidoptera: Does necessary sampling effort vary between different bio-geographic regions in Europe?

    Lang, A., Kallhardt, F., Lee, M. S., Loos, J., Molander, M. A., Muntean, I., Pettersson, L. B., Rákosy, L., Stefanescu, C. & Messéan, A., 07.2019, In: Ecological Indicators. 102, p. 791-800 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Für_Sorge – Vor_Sorge. Feministische Perspektiven auf ‚Natur/en‘ und Menschen

    Hofmeister, S., Mölders, T. & Onnen, C., 2019, Care: Praktiken und Politiken der Fürsorge: Ethnographische und geschlechtertheoretische Perspektiven. Binder, B., Bischoff, C., Endter, C., Hess, S., Kienitz, S. & Bergmann, S. (eds.). Leverkusen-Opladen: Verlag Babara Budrich, p. 263-275 13 p.

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

  6. Published

    Ecological-economic trade-offs of Diversified Farming Systems - A review

    Rosa-Schleich, J., Loos, J., Mußhoff, O. & Tscharntke, T., 01.06.2019, In: Ecological Economics. 160, p. 251-263 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Für welche ´Natur/en´ sorgen wir? Kritische feministische Perspektiven auf aktuelle Care-Debatten im sozial-ökologischen Kontext

    Hofmeister, S., Mölders, T., Deininger, M. & Kapitza, K., 19.03.2019, In: Gender. 11, 1, p. 125-139 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Diffusion of environmental management accounting for cleaner production: Evidence from some case studies

    Burritt, R. L., Herzig, C., Schaltegger, S. & Viere, T., 01.07.2019, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 224, p. 479-491 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems

    Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L., Klein, A.-M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W. W., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H. & Eisenhauer, N., 01.12.2019, In: Nature Communications. 10, 1, 11 p., 1460.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Green technology innovation: Anatomy of exploration processes from a learning perspective

    Wicki, S. & Hansen, E. G., 01.09.2019, In: Business Strategy and the Environment. 28, 6, p. 970-988 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review