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

    Von den "scharfen Wässern" zu den "harten Säuren": Ein Streifzug durch die Geschichte der Säure-Base-Modelle

    Krebs, R. & Hofer, E., 2022, In: PLUS LUCIS. 2022, 3, p. 8-11 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer

  2. Published

    Auf die Temperatur kommt es an! Untersuchung der Temperaturtoleranz mit der Wärmebildkamera

    Stinken-Rösner, L. & Rodenhauser, A., 01.11.2022, Digitale Medien für den Unterricht: Biologie: 30 innovative Unterrichtsideen . Meier, M. & Thyssen, C. (eds.). Hannover: Friedrich Verlag GmbH, p. 50-51 2 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  3. Published

    Governing Agricultural Biotechnologies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany: A Trans-decadal Study of Regulatory Cultures

    Ely, A., Friedrich, B., Glover, D., Fischer, K., Stone, G. D., Kingiri, A. & Schnurr, M. A., 11.2023, In: Science Technology and Human Values. 48, 6, p. 1292-1328 37 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Water, rivers and wetlands: Governance paradigms and principles

    Challies, E. & Newig, J., 25.03.2022, Routledge Handbook of Global Environmental Politics, Second Edition. Harris, P. G. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 512-525 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  5. Published

    The programme on ecosystem change and society (PECS) – a decade of deepening social-ecological research through a place-based focus

    Norström, A. V., Agarwal, B., Balvanera, P., Baptiste, B., Bennett, E. M., Brondízio, E., Biggs, R., Campbell, B., Carpenter, S. R., Castilla, J. C., Castro, A. J., Cramer, W., Cumming, G. S., Felipe-Lucia, M., Fischer, J., Folke, C., DeFries, R., Gelcich, S., Groth, J., Ifejika Speranza, C., Jacobs, S., Hofmann, J., Hughes, T. P., Lam, D. P. M., Loos, J., Manyani, A., Martín-López, B., Meacham, M., Moersberger, H., Nagendra, H., Pereira, L., Polasky, S., Schoon, M., Schultz, L., Selomane, O. & Spierenburg, M., 31.12.2022, In: Ecosystems and People. 18, 1, p. 598–608 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Landscape products for sustainable agricultural landscapes

    García-Martín, M., Huntsinger, L., Ibarrola-Rivas, M. J., Penker, M., D’Ambrosio, U., Dimopoulos, T., Fernández-Giménez, M. E., Kizos, T., Muñoz-Rojas, J., Saito, O., Zimmerer, K. S., Abson, D. J., Liu, J., Quintas-Soriano, C., Sørensen, I. H., Verburg, P. H. & Plieninger, T., 18.10.2022, In: Nature Food. 3, 10, p. 814-821 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    ReSurveyGermany: Vegetation-plot time-series over the past hundred years in Germany

    Jandt, U., Bruelheide, H., Berg, C., Bernhardt-Römermann, M., Blüml, V., Bode, F., Dengler, J., Diekmann, M., Dierschke, H., Doerfler, I., Döring, U., Dullinger, S., Härdtle, W., Haider, S., Heinken, T., Horchler, P., Jansen, F., Kudernatsch, T., Kuhn, G., Lindner, M., Matesanz, S., Metze, K., Meyer, S., Müller, F., Müller, N., Naaf, T., Peppler-Lisbach, C., Poschlod, P., Roscher, C., Rosenthal, G., Rumpf, S. B., Schmidt, W., Schrautzer, J., Schwabe, A., Schwartze, P., Sperle, T., Stanik, N., Stroh, H. G., Storm, C., Voigt, W., von Heßberg, A., von Oheimb, G., Wagner, E. R., Wegener, U., Wesche, K., Wittig, B. & Wulf, M., 01.12.2022, In: Scientific data. 9, 1, 13 p., 631.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Narrating Sustainability through Storytelling

    Fischer, D. (Editor), Fücker, S. (Editor), Selm, H. (Editor) & Sundermann, A. (Editor), 08.12.2022, 1st ed. London : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 142 p. (Routledge-SCORAI Studies in Sustainable Consumption)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  9. Published

    Quantum chemical calculation of the vapor pressure of volatile and semi volatile organic compounds

    Stahn, M., Grimme, S., Salthammer, T., Hohm, U. & Palm, W.-U., 03.10.2022, In: Environmental Sciences: Processes & Impacts. 24, 11, p. 2153-2166 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Toward the sustainability state? Conceptualizing national sustainability institutions and their impact on policy-making

    Mathis, O. L., Rose, M., Newig, J. & Bauer, S., 06.2023, In: Environmental Policy and Governance. 33, 3, p. 313-324 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review