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

    All-affected, Non-identity and the Political Representation of Future Generations: Linking Intergenerational Justice with Democracy

    Rose, M., 19.03.2019, Intergenerational Equity: Environmental and Cultural Concerns. Cottier, T., Lalani, S. & Siziba, C. (eds.). Leiden, Boston: Brill Nijhoff Verlag, p. 32-51 20 p. (World Trade Institute Advanced Studies; vol. 4).

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

  2. Published

    Alignment of the life cycle initiative’s “principles for the application of life cycle sustainability assessment” with the LCSA practice: A case study review

    Leroy-Parmentier, N., Valdivia, S., Loubet, P. & Sonnemann, G., 01.06.2023, In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 28, 6, p. 704-740 37 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Aliens in Transylvania: risk maps of invasive alien plant species in Central Romania

    Zimmermann, H., Loos, J., von Wehrden, H. & Fischer, J., 16.01.2015, In: NeoBiota. 24, p. 55-65 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Algae Cultivation as Measure for the Sanitation of Organic Waste—A Case Study Based on the Alga Galdieria sulphuraria Grown on Food Waste Hydrolysate in a Continuous Flow Culture

    Pleissner, D. & Händel, N., 01.10.2023, In: Sustainability. 15, 19, 7 p., 14313.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    A Leverage Points Perspective on Sustainability

    Fischer, J. & Riechers, M., 03.2019, In: People and Nature. 1, 1, p. 115-120 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published

    A leverage points perspective on social networks to understand sustainability transformations: evidence from Southern Transylvania

    Lam, D. P. M., Martín-López, B., Horcea-Milcu, A. I. & Lang, D. J., 05.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 3, p. 809-826 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A leverage points perspective on institutions for food security in a smallholder-dominated landscape in southwestern Ethiopia

    Jiren, T. S., Riechers, M., Bergsten, A. & Fischer, J., 05.2021, In: Sustainability Science. 16, 3, p. 767-779 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    A leverage points perspective on Arctic Indigenous food systems research: a systematic review

    Zimmermann, S., Dermody, B. J., Theunissen, B., Wassen, M. J., Divine, L. M., Padula, V. M., von Wehrden, H. & Dorresteijn, I., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1481-1500 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Alcohol use and drinking motives across five countries: a post-COVID-19 pandemic update

    Rupprecht, J., Spitzweck, B., Oettingen, G. & Sevincer, A. T., 03.2025, In: American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 51, 1, p. 85-95 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965): Eine Biographie

    Oermann, N. O. (Editor), 2010, 3 ed. München: C.H. Beck Verlag. 367 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsTransfer