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. 2023
  2. Published

    A leverage points perspective on Arctic Indigenous food systems research: a systematic review

    Zimmermann, S., Dermody, B. J., Theunissen, B., Wassen, M. J., Divine, L. M., Padula, V. M., von Wehrden, H. & Dorresteijn, I., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1481-1500 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Practical wisdom and virtue ethics for knowledge co-production in sustainability science

    Caniglia, G., Freeth, R., Lüderitz, C., Leventon, J., West, S. P., John, B., Peukert, D., Lang, D. J., von Wehrden, H., Martín-López, B., Fazey, I., Russo, F., von Wirth, T., Schlüter, M. & Vogel, C., 05.2023, In: Nature Sustainability. 6, 5, p. 493-501 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Spatial predictions for the distribution of woody plant species under different land-use scenarios in southwestern Ethiopia

    Duguma, D. W., Law, E., Shumi, G., Rodrigues, P., Senbeta, F., Schultner, J., Abson, D. J. & Fischer, J., 05.2023, In: Landscape Ecology. 38, 5, p. 1249-1263 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Special issue: Frameworks for Sustainability Management

    Hörisch, J. (Editor), Schaltegger, S. (Editor), Weissbrod, I. (Editor) & Schreck, P. (Editor), 05.2023, Berlin: Springer. (Journal of Business Economics; vol. 93, no. 4)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  6. Published

    Sustainability innovations: a proposal for an analytical framework and its empirical application in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve

    Dabard, C. H. & Mann, C., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1085-1098 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Toward holistic corporate sustainability-Developing employees' action competence for sustainability in small and medium-sized enterprises through training

    Schroeder, S., Wiek, A., Farny, S. & Luthardt, P., 05.2023, In: Business Strategy and the Environment. 32, 4, p. 1650-1669 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Using the three horizons approach to explore pathways towards positive futures for agricultural landscapes with rich biodiversity

    Schaal, T., Mitchell, M., Scheele, B. C., Ryan, P. & Hanspach, J., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1271-1289 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Visualizing stakeholders’ willingness for collective action in participatory scenario planning

    López-Rodríguez, M. D., Oteros-Rozas, E., Ruiz-Mallén, I., March, H., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Heras, M., Cebrián-Piqueras, M. A., Andrade, R., Lo, V. B. P. G. & Piñeiro, C., 05.2023, In: Ecology and Society. 28, 2, 23 p., 5.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Critical political economy of taxation

    Lierse, H., 21.04.2023, Handbook on Critical Political Economy and Public Policy. Scherrer, C., Garcia, A. & Wullweber, J. (eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 327-340 14 p. (Handbooks of research on public policy).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  11. Published

    Straw amendment and nitrification inhibitor controlling N losses and immobilization in a soil cooling-warming experiment

    Chen, H., Rosinger, C., Blagodatsky, S., Reichel, R., Li, B., Kumar, A., Rothardt, S., Luo, J., Brüggemann, N., Kage, H. & Bonkowski, M., 20.04.2023, In: Science of the Total Environment. 870, 11 p., 162007.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch