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

    An integrative research framework for enabling transformative adaptation

    Colloff, M. J., Martín-López, B., Lavorel, S., Locatelli, B., Gorddard, R., Longaretti, P. Y., Walters, G., van Kerkhoff, L., Wyborn, C., Coreau, A., Wise, R. M., Dunlop, M., Degeorges, P., Grantham, H., Overton, I. C., Williams, R. D., Doherty, M. D., Capon, T., Sanderson, T. & Murphy, H. T., 01.02.2017, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 68, p. 87-96 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    An Integrative Framework of Environmental Management Accounting: Consolidating the Different Approaches of EMA into a Common Framework and Terminology

    Burritt, R. L., Hahn, T. & Schaltegger, S., 2002, Environmental Management Accounting: Informational and Institutional Developments. Bennett, M. & Bouma, J. J. (eds.). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 21-35 15 p. (Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science ; vol. 9).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  3. Published

    An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria

    Hecher, M., Vilsmaier, U., Akhavan, R. & Binder, C. R., 01.01.2016, In: Ecological Economics. 121 , Januar 2016, p. 40-53 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    An integrated, modular biorefinery for the treatment of food waste in urban areas

    Laibach, N., Müller, B., Pleissner, D., Raber, W. & Smetana, S., 01.12.2021, In: Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. 4, 4 p., 100118.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    An inclusive future: disabled populations in the context of climate and environmental change

    Kosanic, A., Petzold, J., Martín-López, B. & Razanajatovo, M., 01.04.2022, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 55, 11 p., 101159.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    An improved method for the analysis of volatile polyfluorinated alkyl substances in environmental air samples

    Jahnke, A., Ahrens, L., Ebinghaus, R., Berger, U., Barber, J. L. & Temme, C., 02.2007, In: Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. 387, 3, p. 965-975 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    An idea and a person whose time had come: How Albert Schweitzer became a postwar icon

    Oermann, N. O., Thate, M. J. & Widmann, E., 01.01.2016, Albert Schweitzer in Thought and Action: A Life in Parts. Carleton-Paget, J. & Thate, M. J. (eds.). Syracuse University Press, p. 319-329 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    An IAD framework analysis of minigrid institutions for sustainable rural electrification in East Africa: A comparative study of Uganda and Tanzania

    Namujju, L. D., Acquah-Swanzy, H. & Ngoti, I. F., 01.11.2023, In: Energy Policy. 182, 17 p., 113742.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Angewandte Methodik bei der separaten Behandlung von Abwasser aus Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens

    Mousel, D., Bastian, D., Everding, W., Firk, J., Bäumlisberger, M., Herrel, M., Herrmann, M., Menz, J. & Gebhardt, W., 2015, Abwasser aus Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens – Charakterisierung, Technologien, Kommunikation und Konzepte: Abschlussbericht des durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung geförderten Vorhabens "Innovative Konzepte und Technologien für die separate Behandlung von Abwasser aus Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens (Sauber+)". Pinnekamp, J., Palmowski, L., Kümmerer, K. & Schramm, E. (eds.). Aachen: Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft an der RWTH Aachen e.V., Vol. 238. p. 117-134 (Gewässerschutz - Wasser - Abwasser; vol. 238).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Anger regulation among friends: Assessment and development from childhood to adolescence

    Salisch, M. & Vogelgesang, J., 01.12.2005, In: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 22, 6, p. 837-855 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review