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

    Entry of biocides and their transformation products into groundwater via urban stormwater infiltration systems

    Hensen, B., Lange, J., Jackisch, N., Zieger, F., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 01.11.2018, In: Water Research. 144, p. 413-423 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework

    Johnson, M. P. & Schaltegger, S., 01.11.2020, In: Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice. 44, 6, p. 1141-1173 33 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Entrepreneurship-driven organizational transformation for sustainability: a sensemaking lens

    Hübel, C., 24.01.2022, In: Journal of Organizational Change Management. 35, 1, p. 240-256 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Enterprise education in pharmacy schools: Experiential learning in institutionally constrained contexts

    Refai, D. & Klapper, R., 06.06.2016, In: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. 22, 4, p. 485-509 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Ensuring tests of conservation interventions build on existing literature

    Sutherland, W. J., Alvarez-Castañeda, S. T., Amano, T., Ambrosini, R., Atkinson, P., Baxter, J. M., Bond, A. L., Boon, P. J., Buchanan, K. L., Barlow, J., Bogliani, G., Bragg, O. M., Burgman, M., Cadotte, M. W., Calver, M., Cooke, S. J., Corlett, R. T., Devictor, V., Ewen, J. G., Fisher, M., Freeman, G., Game, E., Godley, B. J., Gortázar, C., Hartley, I. R., Hawksworth, D. L., Hobson, K. A., Lu, M. L., Martín-López, B., Ma, K., Machado, A., Maes, D., Mangiacotti, M., McCafferty, D. J., Melfi, V., Molur, S., Moore, A. J., Murphy, S. D., Norris, D., van Oudenhoven, A. P. E., Powers, J., Rees, E. C., Schwartz, M. W., Storch, I. & Wordley, C., 01.08.2020, In: Conservation Biology. 34, 4, p. 781-783 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  7. E-pub ahead of print

    Enhancing the transformative potential of sustainability innovations: An application of the values-rules-knowledge framework

    Dabard, C. H., Mann, C. & Martín-López, B., 13.03.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ambio. 17 p., 102273.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Enhancing the transformative potential of interventions for the sustainable use of natural resources

    Loos, J., Cortés-Capano, G., Riechers, M., Walsh, C. & Leventon, J., 01.08.2024, In: Biological Conservation. 296, 10 p., 110691.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  9. Published

    Enhancing the structural diversity between forest patches — A concept and real-world experiment to study biodiversity, multifunctionality and forest resilience across spatial scales

    Müller, J., Mitesser, O., Cadotte, M. W., van der Plas, F., Mori, A., Ammer, C., Chao, A., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Baldrian, P., Bässler, C., Biedermann, P., Cesarz, S., Claßen, A., Delory, B. M., Feldhaar, H., Fichtner, A., Hothorn, T., Kuenzer, C., Peters, M. K., Pierick, K., Schmitt, T., Schuldt, B., Seidel, D., Six, D., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Thorn, S., von Oheimb, G., Wegmann, M., Weisser, W. W. & Eisenhauer, N., 03.2023, In: Global Change Biology. 29, 6, p. 1437-1450 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Enhancing stakeholder role reducing urban flood vulnerability – the DIANE-CM approach

    Evers, M., Jonoski, A. & Maksimović, Č., 2009, Road Map Towards a Flood Resilient Urban Environment: proceedings final conference of the COST action C22 urban flood management in cooperation with UNESCO-IHP ; Paris 26./27.11.2009 ; [program of the conference and the abstracts of all papers selected for oral presentation]. Pasche, E., Evelpidou, N., Zevenbergen, C., Ashley, R. & Garvin, S. (eds.). Institut für Wasserbau TU Hamburg Harburg , p. 44 1 p. (Hamburger Wasserbau-Schriften; vol. 6).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review