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

    Diffusion of environmental management accounting for cleaner production: Evidence from some case studies

    Burritt, R. L., Herzig, C., Schaltegger, S. & Viere, T., 01.07.2019, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 224, p. 479-491 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Different responses of ant species to sugars and amino acids in a subtropical forest of China 

    Methorst, J., Klein, A.-M., Blüthgen, N., Leonhardt, S. & Staab, M., 09.2012, From Basic Ecology to the Challenges of Modern Society, Book of abstracts: 42nd Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ), Lüneburg, Germany, 10-14 September 2012. Drees, C. & von Oheimb, G. (eds.). Berlin: Gesellschaft für Ökologie, Vol. 42. p. 56-57 2 p. (Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ökologie; no. 42).

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

  3. Published

    Differentiating forest types using TerraSAR–X spotlight images based on inferential statistics and multivariate analysis

    Farghaly, D., Urban, B., Sörgel, U. & Elba, E., 01.08.2019, In: Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment. 15, 100238.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Differential responses of ecosystem components to a low-intensity fire in a Mediterranean forest: A three-year case study

    García-Tejero, S., Taboada Palomares, A., Tárrega, R., Marcos, E. & Salgado, J. M., 01.06.2013, In: Community Ecology. 14, 1, p. 110-120 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Differential reproductive responses to stress reveal the role of life-history strategies within a species

    Schultner, J., Kitaysky, A. S., Gabrielsen, G. W., Hatch, S. A. & Bech, C., 22.11.2013, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B . 280, 1771, 10 p., 20132090.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Differences in isoprenoid-mediated energy dissipation pathways between coastal and interior Douglas-fir seedlings in response to drought

    Junker-Frohn, L. V., Kleiber, A., Jansen, K., Gessler, A., Kreuzwieser, J. & Ensminger, I., 10.2019, In: Tree Physiology. 39, 10, p. 1750-1766 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published
  8. Published

    Die Zukunftsbäckerei: Regional, traditionell, bio – was den Bäckereifachbetrieb nachhaltig macht

    Weber, U., Dietschmann, R. & Lühr, J., 2015, Lüneburg: Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, 37 p.

    Research output: Working paperProject reportsTransfer

  9. Published

    Die Zukunft der europäischen Chemikalienpolitik: zum Stand und möglichen Entwicklungen der REACh-Verordnung

    Heitmann, K. & Tschochohei, H., 06.03.2007, In: Umweltwirtschaftsforum. 15, 1, p. 40-48 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. Published