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. 2012
  2. Published

    Hydration and dehydration of salt hydrates and hydroxides for thermal energy storage – kinetics and energy release

    Rammelberg, H., Schmidt, T. & Ruck, W., 01.01.2012, In: Energy Procedia. 30, p. 362-369 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Publicly mediated inter-organisational networks: a solution for sustainabilityoriented innovation in SMEs?

    Hansen, E. G. & Klewitz, J., 01.01.2012, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability. Wagner, M. (ed.). London: Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 254-278 25 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  4. Published

    Services from plant-pollinator interactions in the Neotropics

    Garibaldi, L. A., Muchhala, N., Motzke, I., Bravo-Monroy, L., Olschewski, R. & Klein, A.-M., 01.01.2012, Ecosystem Services from Agriculture and Agroforestry: Measurement and Payment. Rapidel, B., DeClerck, F., Le Coq, J. F. & Beer, J. (eds.). 1 ed. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd., p. 119-140 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  5. Published

    Spillover of functionally important organisms between managed and natural habitats

    Blitzer, E. J., Dormann, C. F., Holzschuh, A., Klein, A.-M., Rand, T. A. & Tscharntke, T., 01.01.2012, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 146, 1, p. 34-43 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    The Role of an SME’s Green Strategy in Public-Private Eco-innovation Initiatives: The Case of Ecoprofit

    Hansen, E. G. & Klewitz, J., 01.01.2012, In: Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship. 25, 4, p. 451-477 27 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published
  8. Published

    Der Übergang ins Postfossile Zeitalter- Übersehene Knappheiten

    Kümmerer, K., 01.2012, In: Tutzinger Blätter. B 13829, 1, p. 13-14 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Ecological justice in agricultural systems: An evaluation of success factors and barriers by the example of the Philippine farmer network MASIPAG

    Glotzbach, S., 01.2012, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 28 p. (Working Paper Series in Economics; no. 225).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  10. Published

    Economic analysis of trade-offs between justices

    Baumgärtner, S., Glotzbach, S., Hoberg, N., Quaas, M. F. & Stumpf, K. H., 01.2012, In: Intergenerational Justice Review. 6, 1, p. 4-9 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Horizontal, but not vertical canopy structure is related to stand functional diversity in a subtropical slope forest

    Lang, A. C., Härdtle, W., Bruelheide, H., Kröber, W., Schröter, M., von Wehrden, H. & Oheimb, G., 01.2012, In: Ecological Research. 27, 1, p. 181-189 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review