School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- Published
Sustainability Transitions and the Spatial Interface: Developing Conceptual Perspectives
Levin-Keitel, M., Mölders, T., Othengrafen, F. & Ibendorf, J., 05.06.2018, In: Sustainability. 10, 6, 15 p., 1880.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Sustainability through institutional failure and decline? Archetypes of productive pathways
Newig, J., Derwort, P. & Jager, N. W., 03.2019, In: Ecology and Society. 24, 1, 14 p., 18.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Sustainability, Substance Flow Management and Time: Part I: Temporal Analysis of Substance Flows
Kümmerer, K. & Hofmeister, S., 09.2008, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 88, 4, p. 1333-1342 10 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Sustainability Strategies: What's in a Name? A Conceptual Restatement of Fundamental Mechanisms Toward Sustainability
Hartmann, E., 27.03.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Sustainable Development. 15 p., sd.3443.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
"Sustainability State” in the Making? Institutionalization of Sustainability in German Federal Policy Making
Heinrichs, H. & Laws, N., 05.05.2014, In: Sustainability. 6, 5, p. 2623-2641 19 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Sustainability Science with Ozzy Osbourne, Julia Roberts and Ai Weiwei: The Potential of Arts-Based Research for Sustainable Development
Heinrichs, H., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 1, p. 132-137 6 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- Published
Sustainability, science, and higher education: The need for new paradigms
Martens, P., Roorda, N. & Cörvers, R., 11.10.2010, In: Sustainability. 3, 5, p. 294-303 10 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Sustainability Science: An Introduction
Heinrichs, H. (Editor), Martens, W. J. M. (Editor), Michelsen, G. (Editor) & Wiek, A. (Editor), 01.2016, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. 367 p.Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Education
- Published
Sustainability Reporting in the Light of Business Environments: Linking Business Environment, Strategy, Communication and Accounting
Schaltegger, S., 2012, Lüneburg: Centre for Sustainability Management, 16 p.Research output: Working paper › Working papers
- Published
Sustainability Reporting in the German Banking Sector during the Financial Crisis
Herzig, C., Giese, N., Hetze, K. & Godemann, J., 05.2012, In: International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. 6, 2, p. 184-218 35 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review