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

    Environmental heterogeneity modulates the effect of plant diversity on the spatial variability of grassland biomass

    Daleo, P., Alberti, J., Chaneton, E. J., Iribarne, O., Tognetti, P. M., Bakker, J. D., Borer, E. T., Bruschetti, M., MacDougall, A. S., Pascual, J., Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E. W., Wang, S., Bagchi, S., Brudvig, L. A., Catford, J. A., Dickman, C. R., Dickson, T. L., Donohue, I., Eisenhauer, N., Gruner, D. S., Haider, S., Jentsch, A., Knops, J. M. H., Lekberg, Y., McCulley, R. L., Moore, J. L., Mortensen, B., Ohlert, T., Pärtel, M., Peri, P. L., Power, S. A., Risch, A. C., Rocca, C., Smith, N. G., Stevens, C., Tamme, R., Veen, G. F. C., Wilfahrt, P. A. & Hautier, Y., 12.2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 1, 11 p., 1809.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Environmental Governance of China's Belt and Road Initiative

    Coenen, J., Bager, S., Meyfroidt, P., Newig, J. & Challies, E., 01.01.2021, In: Environmental Policy and Governance. 31, 1, p. 3-17 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Environmental governance of a Belt and Road project in Montenegro – National agency and external influences

    Coenen, J., Newig, J. & Meyfroidt, P., 01.08.2022, In: Land Use Policy. 119, 14 p., 106136.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Environmental governance in globally telecoupled systems: Mapping the terrain towards an integrated research agenda

    Cotta, B., Coenen, J., Challies, E., Newig, J., Lenschow, A. & Schilling-Vacaflor, A., 01.08.2022, In: Earth System Governance. 13, 16 p., 100142.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  5. Published

    Environmental governance: participatory, multi-level - and effective?

    Newig, J. & Fritsch, O., 2009, In: Environmental Policy and Governance. 19, 3, p. 197-214 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Environmental Fate and Exposure Modeling of Nanomaterials

    Scheringer, M., Praetorius, A. & Goldberg, E., 2014, Frontiers of Nanoscience. Amsterdam: Elsevier B.V., p. 89-125 37 p. (Frontiers of Nanoscience; vol. 7).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  7. Published

    Environmental fate and effect assessment of thioridazine and its transformation products formed by photodegradation

    Wilde, M. L., Menz, J., Trautwein, C., Leder, C. & Kümmerer, K., 06.2016, In: Environmental Pollution. 213, p. 658-670 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Environmental effects of sustainability management tools: An empirical analysis of large companies

    Hörisch, J., Ortas, E., Schaltegger, S. & Álvarez, I., 01.12.2015, In: Ecological Economics. 120, p. 241-249 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Environmental drivers interactively affect individual tree growth across temperate European forests

    Maes, S. L., Perring, M. P., Vanhellemont, M., Depauw, L., Van den Bulcke, J., Brūmelis, G., Brunet, J., Decocq, G., den Ouden, J., Härdtle, W., Hédl, R., Heinken, T., Heinrichs, S., Jaroszewicz, B., Kopecký, M., Máliš, F., Wulf, M. & Verheyen, K., 01.2019, In: Global Change Biology. 25, 1, p. 201-217 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Environmental Dimension in Chemistry Teacher Education

    Zuin, V. G., 01.01.2012, Campinas: Atomo. 174 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook