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
  2. Published

    Community Energy in Germany: From Technology Pioneers to Professionalisation under Uncertainty

    Holstenkamp, L., 2021, Renewable Energy Communities and the Low Carbon Energy Transition in Europe. Coenen, F. H. J. M. & Hoppe, T. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 119-152 34 p.

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

  3. Published

    Spatial variation in human disturbances and their effects on forest structure and biodiversity across an Afromontane forest

    Beche, D., Tack, A., Nemomissa, S., Warkineh, B., Lemessa, D., Rodrigues, P., Fischer, J. & Hylander, K., 01.02.2022, In: Landscape Ecology. 37, 2, p. 493-510 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Invertebrate herbivory rather than competition with tussocks will increasingly delay highland forest regeneration in degraded areas under active restoration

    Renison, D., Rodriguez, J. M., García Cannata, L., von Wehrden, H. & Hensen, I., 15.02.2022, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 506, 119990.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Transdisciplinary co-creation increases the utilization of knowledge from sustainable development research

    Jacobi, J., Llanque, A., Mukhovi, S. M., Birachi, E. A., von Groote, P. M., Eschen, R., Hilber-Schöb, I., Kiba, D. I., Frossard, E. & Robledo-Abad, C., 01.03.2022, In: Environmental Science and Policy. 129, p. 107-115 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Green infrastructure connectivity analysis across spatiotemporal scales: A transferable approach in the Ruhr Metropolitan Area, Germany

    Wang, J., Rienow, A., David, M. & Albert, C., 20.03.2022, In: Science of the Total Environment. 813, 152463.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Knowledge sharing for shared success in the decade on ecosystem restoration

    Ladouceur, E., Shackelford, N., Bouazza, K., Brudvig, L., Bucharova, A., Conradi, T., Erickson, T. E., Garbowski, M., Garvy, K., Harpole, W. S., Jones, H. P., Knight, T. M., Nsikani, M. M., Paterno, G., Suding, K., Temperton, V., Török, P., Winkler, D. E. & Chase, J. M., 01.01.2022, In: Ecological Solutions and Evidence. 3, 1, 9 p., e12117.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations

    Chambers, J. M., Wyborn, C., Klenk, N. L., Ryan, M., Serban, A., Bennett, N. J., Brennan, R., Charli-Joseph, L., Fernández-Giménez, M. E., Galvin, K. A., Goldstein, B. E., Haller, T., Hill, R., Munera, C., Nel, J. L., Österblom, H., Reid, R. S., Riechers, M., Spierenburg, M., Tengö, M., Bennett, E., Brandeis, A., Chatterton, P., Cockburn, J. J., Cvitanovic, C., Dumrongrojwatthana, P., Paz Durán, A., Gerber, J. D., Green, J. M. H., Gruby, R., Guerrero, A. M., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Montana, J., Steyaert, P., Zaehringer, J. G., Bednarek, A. T., Curran, K., Fada, S. J., Hutton, J., Leimona, B., Pickering, T. & Rondeau, R., 01.01.2022, In: Global Environmental Change. 72, 17 p., 102422.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Broadening the scope of ecosystem services research: Disaggregation as a powerful concept for sustainable natural resource management

    Brück, M., Abson, D. J., Fischer, J. & Schultner, J., 01.02.2022, In: Ecosystem Services. 53, 11 p., 101399.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    How cognitive issue bracketing affects interdependent decision-making in negotiations

    Warsitzka, M., Zhang, H., Loschelder, D. D., Majer, J. & Trötschel, R., 01.03.2022, In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 99, 16 p., 104268.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review