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

    Circular value creation architectures: Make, ally, buy, or laissez-faire

    Hansen, E. G. & Revellio, F., 12.2020, In: Journal of Industrial Ecology. 24, 6, p. 1250-1273 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Circular Business Models: OVercoming Barriers, Unleashing Potentials

    Schomerus, T., Hansen, E. G., Ahle, U., Alcayaga, A., Blomsma, F., Büchle, D., Denker, A.-K., Fichter, K., Fiolka, K., Fröhling, M., Häge, A., Hoffmann, V., Jaeger-Erben, M., Kohl, H., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Nitz, T., Schiller, C., Tauer, R., Tischner, C., Vollkommer, D., Wilhelm, D. & Zefferer, H., 29.04.2021, München: acatech/SYSTEMIQ, 150 p.

    Research output: Working paperResearch communication reportsTransfer

  3. Published

    Circular business models for the fastmoving consumer goods industry: Desirability, feasibility, and viability

    Bocken, N. M. P., Harsch, A. & Weissbrod, I., 01.03.2022, In: Sustainable Production and Consumption. 30, p. 799-814 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Circular and inclusive utilization of alternative proteins: A European and Mediterranean perspective

    Athanassiou, C. G., Smetana, S. M., Pleißner, D., Tassoni, A., Gasco, L., Gai, F., Shpigelman, A., Bravo Cadena, M., Gastli, M., Conceição, L. E. C., Gronich, E., Paolacci, S., Chalkidis, V., Kuthy, M., Stolzenberger, R. E., El Yaacoubi, A., Mehlhose, C., Petrusán, J.-I. & Rumbos, C. I., 01.04.2024, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 46, 6 p., 100892.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  5. Published

    "Chronotone" und "Choratone" als Spielräume: Annäherung an die Frage nach der Be-Wertung von raumzeitlichen Übergängen

    Hofmeister, S., 2001, Ökonomische Be-Wertungen in gesellschaftlichen Prozessen: Markt - Macht - Diskurs. A. B., Grenzdörffer, K. & Elsner, W. (eds.). Herbolzheim: Centaurus Verlag, p. 99-118 20 p.

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

  6. Published

    Chronometric and relative dating of the Middle Pleistocene sequence of Schöningen

    Richter, D. & Urban, B., 2013, 3rd Annual Meeting of the European Society for the study of human evolution (ESHE). European Society for the Study of Human Evolution, p. 184 1 p. (Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution; vol. 2).

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

  7. Published
  8. Published

    Chronological and sedimentological investigations of the Late Pleistocene succession in Osterbylund (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)

    Thiel, C., Kenzler, M., Stephan, H.-J., Frechen, M., Urban, B. & Sierralta, M., 06.03.2023, In: E&G Quaternary Science Journal. 72, 1, p. 57-72 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Chronobiologische Aspekte der Insomnie

    Ell, J., Benz, F., Walter, N., Steinmetz, L., Brueckner, H., Lehr, D., Riemann, D. & Spiegelhalder, K., 01.06.2021, In: Somnologie. 25, 2, p. 110-118 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Chronischer beruflicher Stress: Behandlungsansätze mit Psychotherapie

    Koch, S., Lehr, D. & Hillert, A., 01.11.2022, In: Psychotherapie • Psychosomatik • Medizinische Psychologie . 72, 11, p. 497-512 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch