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
Reconceptualizing the role of socioeconomic material stocks in the leverage points framework to enable transformative change
Haas, W., Abson, D. J., Haberl, H., Spittler, N., Wiedenhofer, D. & Dorninger, C., 01.2026, In: Ecological Economics. 239, 9 p., 108759.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Losers and winners: responses of grassland arthropods to land-use components
Hartlieb, M., Staab, M., Berger, J. L., Achury, R., Gossner, M. M., Seibold, S., Weisser, W. W. & Blüthgen, N., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Oikos.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
From Environmentalist to Ecopreneur? Target Groups and Role Models as Key Elements in Sustainable Entrepreneurship Education
Hörisch, J., Fokuhl, M., Buhr, M. & Dickel, P., 11.10.2025, In: Sustainable Development.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages
Author Collaboration of "Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages", Buchanan, E. M., Heyman, T., van Berkel, N., Coles, N. A., Sevincer, A. T., Tschense, M. & Wallot, S., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Nature Human Behaviour.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Sampling and processing of climate change information and disinformation across three diverse countries
Rahmani Azad, Z., Spampatti, T., Gluth, S., Tam, K. P. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: British Journal of Psychology.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Attitude Without Action-What Really Hinders Ethical Consumption
Berberyan, Z., Jastram, S. M., Heuer, M., Schnittka, O. & Rosenkranz, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Business Ethics.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Accepted/In press
Towards self-sufficiency: a socio-technical model to identify the transition pathways to flexible prosumers and the role of policy mixes
van der Kam, M., Lagomarsino, M., Parra, D. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Sustainability Science. 19 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Ground beetle fauna of flower strips and forest edges in northern German lowlands’ conventional agricultural landscapes (Coleoptera, Carabidae)
Grabener, S., Boutaud, E., Drees, C., Gürlich, S., Härdtle, W., Husemann, L., Kubiak, M., Laschke, C. J., Remmers, S., Zumstein, P. & Assmann, T., 2025, In: Biodiversity Data Journal. 13, e161282.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Critical Global Citizenship Education in Practice: What we’ve learned about applications of the Ethical Global Issues Pedagogy Resource
Benavides Lahnstein, A., Grauer, C. & Pashby, K., 09.10.2025Research output: other publications › Articles in scientific forums or blogs › Transfer
- E-pub ahead of print
Context-based science education to promote diversity-equity-inclusion – a systematic literature review on the understanding of context in science education
Hüfner, S. K., Weirauch, K., List, F., Menthe, J. & Abels, S., 08.10.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Studies in Science Education. 41 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review