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

    Impact of early childhood education settings on the systems thinking skills of preschool children through the lens of Bronfenbrenner's theory

    Feriver, Ş., Olgan, R., Teksöz, G. & Barth, M., 01.01.2022, In: Systems Research and Behavioral Science. 39, 1, p. 85-103 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Biocultural approaches to sustainability: A systematic review of the scientific literature

    Hanspach, J., Jamila Haider, L., Oteros-Rozas, E., Stahl Olafsson, A., Gulsrud, N. M., Raymond, C. M., Torralba, M., Martín-López, B., Bieling, C., García-Martín, M., Albert, C., Beery, T. H., Fagerholm, N., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Drews-Shambroom, A. & Plieninger, T., 09.2020, In: People and Nature. 2, 3, p. 643-659 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Meditating for the Planet: Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Sustainable Consumption Behaviors

    Geiger, S. M., Fischer, D., Schrader, U. & Grossman, P., 01.11.2020, In: Environment and Behavior. 52, 9, p. 1012-1042 31 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Environmental impact of high-value gold scrap recycling

    Fritz, B., Aichele, C. & Schmidt, M., 01.10.2020, In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 25, 10, p. 1930-1941 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Systemic Risks from Different Perspectives

    Renn, O., Laubichler, M., Lucas, K., Kröger, W., Schanze, J., Scholz, R. W. & Schweizer, P., 01.09.2022, In: Risk Analysis. 42, 9, p. 1902-1920 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Quantifying simultaneous innovations in evolutionary medicine

    Painter, D. T., van der Wouden, F., Laubichler, M. D. & Youn, H., 12.2020, In: Theory in Biosciences. 139, 4, p. 319-335 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A Proposal for Integrating Theories of Complexity for Better Understanding Global Systemic Risks

    Haas, A., Laubichler, M., Applegate, J., Steudle, G. & Jaeger, C. C., 01.09.2022, In: Risk Analysis. 42, 9, p. 1945-1951 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Heinrich Egon Weber (1932-2020)

    Haerdtle, W., Matzke-Hajek, G. & Pallas, J., 2020, In: Tuexenia. 40, p. 585-604 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Cognitive dissonance in sustainability scientists regarding air travel for academic purposes: A qualitative study

    Schrems, I. & Upham, P., 01.03.2020, In: Sustainability. 12, 5, 14 p., 1837.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Growth of Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria Gallionella ferruginea and Leptothrix cholodnii in Oligotrophic Environments: Ca, Mg, and C as Limiting Factors and G. ferruginea Necromass as C-Source

    Eggerichs, T., Wiegand, M., Neumann, K., Opel, O., Thronicker, O. & Szewzyk, U., 07.02.2020, In: Geomicrobiology Journal. 37, 2, p. 190-199 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review