School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- Published
Sustainability Strategies: What's in a Name? A Conceptual Restatement of Fundamental Mechanisms Toward Sustainability
Hartmann, E., 2025, In: Sustainable Development. sd.3443.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Horizontal portability: A proposal for representing place-based relational values in research and policy
Himes, A., Muraca, B., Allen, K., Chapman, M., Coelho-Junior, M. G., Cundill, G., Gould, R. K., Herrmann, T. M., Kenter, J. O., Nakachi, A. A., Nemogá, G. R., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Pearson, J., Rono, B., Saito, T., Tadaki, M. & Bonn, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: People and Nature. 13 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- Published
Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change
Author Collaboration "Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change", Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J., Díaz, S., Rifai, S. W., Corral-Rivas, J. J. & Klipel, J., 07.03.2025, In: Science (New York, N.Y.). 387, 6738, p. eadl5414Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
The multifaceted spectra of power − A participatory network analysis on power structures in diverse dryland regions
Olofsson, V., Garcia, M. M., Castro, A. J., Calderón, S. C., Diallo, A. H., Aceituno, A. J., López-Rodríguez, M. D., Gonzalez, T. S., Silvino, A. S. & Aguiar, A. P., 07.2025, In: Global Environmental Change. 92, 12 p., 102984.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Mostly harmless econometrics? Statistical paradigms in the ‘top five’ from 2000 to 2018
Engler, J. O., Beeck, J. J. & von Wehrden, H., 03.03.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Economic Methodology.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Tree diversity increases forest temperature buffering via enhancing canopy density and structural diversity
Schnabel, F., Beugnon, R., Yang, B., Richter, R., Eisenhauer, N., Huang, Y., Liu, X., Wirth, C., Cesarz, S., Fichtner, A., Perles-García, M. D., Hähn, G., Härdtle, W., Kunz, M., Castro-Izaguirre, N., Niklaus, P. A., von Oheimb, G., Schmid, B., Trogisch, S., Wendisch, M., Ma, K. & Bruelheide, H., 03.2025, In: Ecology Letters. 28, 3, p. 1-11 11 p., e70096.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- E-pub ahead of print
Accelerating the industrial transition with safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD)
Soeteman-Hernández, L. G., Tickner, J. A., Dierckx, A., Kümmerer, K., Apel, C. & Strömberg, E., 17.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: RSC Sustainability. 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- Published
Key learnings from integrating sustainability in european higher education institutions: The value of networks and reflective leadership
Weiss, M., Mulà, I., Zimmermann, A. B. & Diethart, M., 20.02.2025, The Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Education and Thinking for the 21st Century. John, M. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 918-933 16 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Chapter › peer-review
- Published
Green Extraction and NMR Analysis of Bioactives from Orange Juice Waste
Penteado, P. S., Leal, M. C. B. D. M., Carosio, M. G. A., dos Santos, A., Segatto, M. L., Pavarini, D. P., da Silva, D. F., Amaral, J. C., da Silva, M. F. D. G. F., Zuin Zeidler, V. G. & Ferreira, A. G., 02.2025, In: Foods. 14, 4, 14 p., 642.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- 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 contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review