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

    Drivers of ecosystem service specialization in a smallholder agricultural landscape of the Global South: a case study in Ethiopia

    Brück, M., Fischer, J., Law, E. A., Schultner, J. & Abson, D. J., 01.07.2023, In: Ecology and Society. 28, 3, 38 p., 1.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Drivers of above-ground understorey biomass and nutrient stocks in temperate deciduous forests

    Landuyt, D., Maes, S. L., Depauw, L., Ampoorter, E., Blondeel, H., Perring, M. P., Brūmelis, G., Brunet, J., Decocq, G., den Ouden, J., Härdtle, W., Hédl, R., Heinken, T., Heinrichs, S., Jaroszewicz, B., Kirby, K. J., Kopecký, M., Máliš, F., Wulf, M. & Verheyen, K., 01.05.2020, In: Journal of Ecology. 108, 3, p. 982-997 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Drivers and Barriers of Implementing Sustainability Curricula in Higher Education - Assumptions and Evidence

    Weiß, M., Barth, M., Wiek, A. & Wehrden, H., 12.03.2021, In: Higher Education Studies. 11, 2, p. 42 - 64 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  4. In preparation

    Driesch und Uexküll

    Schmieg, G., 2020, (In preparation) Plessner Handbuch: Leben – Werk – Wirkung. Fischer, J. (ed.). J.B. Metzler, 6 p. Kap.II.8

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaResearch

  5. Published

    Drei Gesetze - ein Anspruch: das Recht auf Informationszugang nach IFG, UIG und VIG

    Schomerus, T., 2009, Internationales Symposium Informationsfreiheit und Datenschutz, Zugang zu Umweltinformationen - Informationsfreiheit für den Umweltschutz?. p. 49-79 31 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  6. Published

    Drei Fragen zu Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung

    Stoltenberg, U., 2010, Leuchtpol: Projektzeitung 2. Leuchtpol, p. 17 1 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to scientific reportsResearch

  7. Published

    Drawing blanks and winning: Quantifying global catastrophic risk associated with human ingenuity

    Engler, J. O. & Fischer, J. N., 01.06.2024, In: Sustainable Futures. 7, 9 p., 100165.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Draußen? Zur Dialektik von Enteignung und Aneignung und zu deren aktuellen Erscheinungsformen

    Biesecker, A., Hofmeister, S. & von Winterfeld , U., 2013, In: Das Argument. 55, 4, p. 522-538 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Do wild bees complement honeybee pollination of confection sunflowers in Israel?

    Pisanty, G., Klein, A.-M. & Mandelik, Y., 03.2014, In: Apidologie. 45, 2, p. 235-247 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Do we need livestock grazing to promote Polylepis australis tree recruitment in the Central Argentinean Mountains?

    Zimmermann, H., Renison, D., Leyer, I. & Hensen, I., 09.2009, In: Ecological Research. 24, 5, p. 1075-1081 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review