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

    The complex spatio-temporal dynamics of organic micropollutants in tidal rivers

    Schneider, J. R. L., Kümmerer, K., Logemann, J. & Radke, M., 01.03.2025, In: Chemosphere. 373, 10 p., 144180.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The complexity of integrated flood management: decision support systems

    Evers, M., 2006, Frontiers in flood research: Le Point De La Recherche Sur Les Crues. Tchiguirinskaia, I., Thein, K. N. N. & Hubert, P. (eds.). IAHS Press, p. 187-196 10 p. (IAHS Publication; no. 305).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  3. Published

    The Competitive Strategies of Ecopreneurs: Striving for Market Leadership by Promoting Sustainability

    Petersen, H., 2005, Making Ecopreneurs: Developing Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Schaper, M. (ed.). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 174-187 14 p.

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

  4. Published

    The Competitive Strategies of Ecopreneurs: Striving for Market Leadership by Promoting Sustainability

    Petersen, H., 2010, Making ecopreneurs: Developing Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Schaper, M. (ed.). Farnham; Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 223-236 14 p. (Corporate Social Responsibility).

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

  5. Published

    The Collaborative Production of Meaningful Measure(ment)s: Preliminary insights into a work in progress

    Bormann, I. & Michelsen, G., 12.12.2010, In: European Educational Research Journal. 9, 4, p. 510-518 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The coexistence of amenity and biodiversity in urban landscapes

    Ives, C. D. & Kelly, A. H., 03.07.2016, In: Landscape Research. 41, 5, p. 495-509 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    The Change Challenge

    Schaltegger, S. & Grünberg-Bochard, J., 2010, In: Public Service Review. 6, p. 112-113 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  8. Published

    The Challenges of Using Organic Municipal Solid Waste as Source of Secondary Raw Materials

    Pleißner, D. & Peinemann, J. C., 01.02.2020, In: Waste and Biomass Valorization. 11, 2, p. 435-446 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The Caterpillar Hunter Beetles Calosoma Weber (Coleoptera: Carabidae) in the southern Levant

    Aßmann, T., Boutaud, E., Buse, J., Drees, C., Friedmann, A.-L.-L., Hetzel, A., Orbach, E., Renan, I., Reuter, C. & Wrase, D. W., 31.12.2020, In: Israel Journal of Entomology. 50, 2, p. 133-158 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The case survey method and applications in political science

    Newig, J. & Fritsch, O., 2009, Washington: ASPA - American Political Science Association, 15 p. (APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper.).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers