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. 2021
  2. Published

    Global patterns of ecologically unequal exchange: Implications for sustainability in the 21st century

    Dorninger, C., Hornborg, A., Abson, D., von Wehrden, H., Schaffartzik, A., Giljum, S., Engler, J. O., Feller, R. L., Hubacek, K. & Wieland, H., 01.01.2021, In: Ecological Economics. 179, 14 p., 106824.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Making the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration a Social-Ecological Endeavour

    Fischer, J., Riechers, M., Loos, J., Martín-López, B. & Temperton, V. M., 01.01.2021, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 36, 1, p. 20-28 9 p., 2749.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Microwave-assisted extraction and matrix solid-phase dispersion as green analytical chemistry sample preparation techniques for the valorisation of mango processing waste

    Segatto, M. L., Zanotti, K. & Zuin, V. G., 01.01.2021, In: Current Research in Chemical Biology. 1, 8 p., 100007.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Role of images in constructing public opinion about environmental matters in Malaysia

    Saleh, M. S. M., Heinrichs, H. & Hasan, N. N. N., 01.01.2021, In: International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development. 12, 1, p. 115-130 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Temporal dynamics and ecotoxicological risk assessment of personal care products, phthalate ester plasticizers, and organophosphorus flame retardants in water from Lake Victoria, Uganda

    Nantaba, F., Palm, W. U., Wasswa, J., Bouwman, H., Kylin, H. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2021, In: Chemosphere. 262, 11 p., 127716.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    The coronavirus pandemic as an analogy for future sustainability challenges

    Engler, J.-O., Abson, D. & Wehrden, H., 01.01.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 1, p. 317-319 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  8. Published

    The role of social identity in institutional work for sociotechnical transitions: The case of transport infrastructure in Berlin

    Becker, S., Bögel, P. & Upham, P., 01.01.2021, In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 162, 11 p., 120385.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    To separate or not to separate: what is necessary and enough for a green and sustainable extraction of bioactive compounds from Brazilian citrus waste

    Zuin, V. G., Ramin, L. Z., Segatto, M. L., Stahl, A. M., Zanotti, K., Forim, M. R., da Silva, M. F. D. G. F. & Fernandes, J. B., 01.01.2021, In: Pure and Applied Chemistry. 93, 1, p. 13-27 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Key competencies in sustainability in higher education - toward an agreed-upon reference framework

    Brundiers, K., Barth, M., Cebrián, G., Cohen, M., Diaz, L., Doucette-Remington, S., Harré, N., Jarchow, M., Losch, K., Michel, J., Zint, M., Mochizuki, Y., Rieckmann, M., Parnell, R. & Walker, P., 01.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 1, p. 13-29 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Priority effects and ecological restoration

    Weidlich, E. W. A., Nelson, C., Maron, J. L., Callaway, R. M., Delory, B. & Temperton, V. M., 01.2021, In: Restoration Ecology. 29, 1, 11 p., e13317.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch