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

    Disentangling ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘nature’s contributions to people’

    Kadykalo, A. N., López-Rodriguez, M. D., Ainscough, J., Droste, N., Ryu, H., Ávila-Flores, G., Le Clec’h, S., Muñoz, M. C., Nilsson, L., Rana, S., Sarkar, P., Sevecke, K. J. & Harmáčková, Z. V., 01.01.2019, In: Ecosystems and People. 15, 1, p. 269-287 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  2. Published

    Disentangling associations of human wellbeing with green infrastructure, degree of urbanity, and social factors around an Asian megacity

    Thapa, P., Torralba, M., Nölke, N., Chowdhury, K., Nagendra, H. & Plieninger, T., 08.08.2024, In: Landscape Ecology. 39, 8, 20 p., 152.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. E-pub ahead of print

    Discussion on the validity of commonly used reliability indices in sports medicine and exercise science: a critical review with data simulations

    Warneke, K., Gronwald, T., Wallot, S., Magno, A., Hillebrecht, M. & Wirth, K., 13.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: European Journal of Applied Physiology. 16 p., e0216065.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Discursos economicistas de la sostenibilidad: Los momentos determinantes y la pregunta por alternativas

    Meyer, E. & Vilsmaier, U., 30.04.2020, In: Sustentabilidade em Debate. 11, 1, p. 98-110 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Discrete-Point Analysis of the Energy Demand of Primary versus Secondary Metal Production

    Schäfer, P. & Schmidt, M., 07.01.2020, In: Environmental Science and Technology. 54, 1, p. 507-516 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Discovering REACH: Lessons From the EU's Regulatory Framework For Chemicals

    Tschochohei, H., 2005, Proceedings of Environmental Science and Technology (2005); Vol. 2:. Lyon, W. G., Hong, J. J. & Reddy, R. K. (eds.). New Orleans: American Science Press, p. 635-640 6 p.

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

  7. Published

    Discourses for deep transformation: perceptions of economic growth in two rural communities in Lower Saxony, Germany

    Lübker, H. M., Abson, D. J. & Riechers, M., 01.11.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 6, p. 1827-1840 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Discharge and fate of biocide residuals to ephemeral stormwater retention pond sediments

    Linke, F., Olsson, O., Schnarr, L., Kümmerer, K., Preusser, F., Bork, M., Leistert, H. & Lange, J., 01.11.2022, In: Hydrology Research. 53, 11, p. 1441-1453 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Disaggregating ecosystem services and disservices in the cultural landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia: a study of rural perceptions

    Dorresteijn, I., Schultner, J., Collier, N. F., Hylander, K., Senbeta, F. & Fischer, J., 01.11.2017, In: Landscape Ecology. 32, 11, p. 2151-2165 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Disaggregated contributions of ecosystem services to human well-being: a case study from Eastern Europe

    Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Leventon, J., Hanspach, J. & Fischer, J., 01.08.2016, In: Regional Environmental Change. 16, 6, p. 1779-1791 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review