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

    Flavonoids as benign substitutes for more harmful synthetic chemicals - effects of flavonoids and their transformation products on algae

    Schnarr, L., Olsson, O., Ohls, S., Webersinn, J., Mauch, T. & Kümmerer, K., 01.04.2024, In: Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy. 38, 19 p., 101473.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Flächenrevitalisierung in Kaliningrad: Revitalisierung von Industriebrachen in Kaliningrad als Know-how-Transferprojekt

    Sanden, J., Kilger, R. & Haupt, T., 2013, Hamburg: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg. 148 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  3. Published

    Flächenrecycling und Naturschutzrecht

    Sanden, J., 2014, In: Bodenschutz. 3, p. 96-104 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  4. Published
  5. Published

    Flachendeckende Landschaftspflege am Beispiel der Bodenteicher Seewiesen, Niedersachsen

    Schwerdtfeger, G. & Urban, B., 1992, In: Telma. 22, p. 267-276 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Five priorities to advance transformative transdisciplinary research

    Augenstein, K., Lam, D. P., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Bernert, P., Charli-Joseph, L., Cockburn, J., Kampfmann, T., Pereira, L. M. & Sellberg, M. M., 01.06.2024, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 68, 11 p., 101438.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Five primary sources of organic aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Belgrade (Serbia)

    Zangrando, R., Barbaro, E., Kirchgeorg, T., Vecchiato, M., Scalabrin, E., Radaelli, M., Đorđević, D., Barbante, C. & Gambaro, A., 15.11.2016, In: Science of the Total Environment. 571, p. 1441-1453 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Fit for the Future? A New Approach in the Debate about What Makes Healthcare Systems Really Sustainable

    Fischer, M., 01.2015, In: Sustainability. 7, 1, p. 294-312 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    First record of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis on amphibians in Romania

    Vörös, J., Bosch, J., Dán, Á. & Hartel, T., 01.12.2013, In: North-Western Journal of Zoology. 9, 2, p. 446-449 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    First record of a Mermithidae (Nematoda) from the meloid beetle Meloe violaceus Marsham, 1802 (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

    Lückmann, J. & Poinar, G. O., 01.05.2003, In: Parasitology Research. 90, 1, p. 82-83 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review