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

    Grassland management intensification weakens the associations among the diversities of multiple plant and animal taxa

    Manning, P., Gossner, M. M., Bossdorf, O., Allan, E., Zhang, Y. Y., Prati, D., Blüthgen, N., Boch, S., Böhm, S., Börschig, C., Hölzel, N., Jung, K., Klaus, V. H., Klein, A. M., Kleinebecker, T., Krauss, J., Lange, M., Müller, J., PAŠALIć, E., Socher, S. A., Tschapka, M., Türke, M., Weiner, C., Werner, M., Gockel, S., Hemp, A., Renner, S. C., Wells, K., Buscot, F., Kalko, E. K. V., Linsenmair, K. E., Weisser, W. W. & Fischer, M., 01.06.2015, In: Ecology. 96, 6, p. 1492-1501 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Government Strategies to Promote Corporate Environmental Management Accounting

    Schaltegger, S., Hahn, T. & Burritt, R., 2002, Environmental Management Accounting: Informational and Institutional Developments. Bennett, M. & Bouma, J. (eds.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 187-198 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  3. Published

    Governing Transitions towards Sustainable Agriculture - Taking Stock of an Emerging Field of Research

    Melchior, I. C. & Newig, J., 08.01.2021, In: Sustainability. 13, 2, p. 1-27 27 p., 528.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Governing the co-production of nature's contributions to people: the road ahead

    Isaac, R., Albrecht, E., Felipe-Lucia, M. R., Piquer-Rodríguez, M., Winkler, K. J. & Martín-López, B., 2023, Advances in Ecological Research: Roadmaps: Part B. Bohan, D. A. & Dumbrell, A. J. (eds.). Academic Press Inc., p. 1-15 15 p. (Advances in Ecological Research; vol. 69).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  5. E-pub ahead of print

    Governing Objects from a Distance: Blockchains as Organizers of Environmentality

    Leistert, O., 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) Explorations in Digital Cultures. Burkhardt, M., Shnayien, M. & Grashöfer, K. (eds.). Lüneburg: meson press, p. 5-20 16 p.

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

  6. Published

    Governing landscapes: An agenda for the assessment of grasslands and savannahs

    Eufemia, L., Wawrzynowicz, I., Bonatti, M., Partelow, S., Fischer, J. & Sieber, S., 09.03.2023, In: Frontiers in Sustainable Resource Management. 2, 7 p., 1134393.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Governing global telecoupling toward environmental sustainability

    Newig, J., Challies, E., Cotta, B., Lenschow, A. & Schilling-Vacaflor, A., 12.2020, In: Ecology and Society. 25, 4, p. 1-17 17 p., 21.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Governing anthropogenic assets for nature’s contributions to people in forests: a policy document analysis

    Isaac, R., Hofmann, J., Koegst, J., Schleyer, C. & Martín-López, B., 01.02.2024, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 152, 20 p., 103657.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Governing Agricultural Biotechnologies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany: A Trans-decadal Study of Regulatory Cultures

    Ely, A., Friedrich, B., Glover, D., Fischer, K., Stone, G. D., Kingiri, A. & Schnurr, M. A., 11.2023, In: Science Technology and Human Values. 48, 6, p. 1292-1328 37 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Governance und Marktdesign: auf der Suche nach den besten "Spielregeln" ; Perspektiven aus Wissenschaft, Praxis und Politik

    Tschochohei, H. (Editor) & Zimmermann, S. (Editor), 2009, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag. 454 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch