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
Community Energy in Germany: From Technology Pioneers to Professionalisation under Uncertainty
Holstenkamp, L., 2021, Renewable Energy Communities and the Low Carbon Energy Transition in Europe. Coenen, F. H. J. M. & Hoppe, T. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 119-152 34 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
- Published
Spatial variation in human disturbances and their effects on forest structure and biodiversity across an Afromontane forest
Beche, D., Tack, A., Nemomissa, S., Warkineh, B., Lemessa, D., Rodrigues, P., Fischer, J. & Hylander, K., 01.02.2022, In: Landscape Ecology. 37, 2, p. 493-510 18 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Invertebrate herbivory rather than competition with tussocks will increasingly delay highland forest regeneration in degraded areas under active restoration
Renison, D., Rodriguez, J. M., García Cannata, L., von Wehrden, H. & Hensen, I., 15.02.2022, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 506, 119990.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Transdisciplinary co-creation increases the utilization of knowledge from sustainable development research
Jacobi, J., Llanque, A., Mukhovi, S. M., Birachi, E. A., von Groote, P. M., Eschen, R., Hilber-Schöb, I., Kiba, D. I., Frossard, E. & Robledo-Abad, C., 01.03.2022, In: Environmental Science and Policy. 129, p. 107-115 9 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Green infrastructure connectivity analysis across spatiotemporal scales: A transferable approach in the Ruhr Metropolitan Area, Germany
Wang, J., Rienow, A., David, M. & Albert, C., 20.03.2022, In: Science of the Total Environment. 813, 152463.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Knowledge sharing for shared success in the decade on ecosystem restoration
Ladouceur, E., Shackelford, N., Bouazza, K., Brudvig, L., Bucharova, A., Conradi, T., Erickson, T. E., Garbowski, M., Garvy, K., Harpole, W. S., Jones, H. P., Knight, T. M., Nsikani, M. M., Paterno, G., Suding, K., Temperton, V., Török, P., Winkler, D. E. & Chase, J. M., 01.01.2022, In: Ecological Solutions and Evidence. 3, 1, 9 p., e12117.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations
Chambers, J. M., Wyborn, C., Klenk, N. L., Ryan, M., Serban, A., Bennett, N. J., Brennan, R., Charli-Joseph, L., Fernández-Giménez, M. E., Galvin, K. A., Goldstein, B. E., Haller, T., Hill, R., Munera, C., Nel, J. L., Österblom, H., Reid, R. S., Riechers, M., Spierenburg, M., Tengö, M., Bennett, E., Brandeis, A., Chatterton, P., Cockburn, J. J., Cvitanovic, C., Dumrongrojwatthana, P., Paz Durán, A., Gerber, J. D., Green, J. M. H., Gruby, R., Guerrero, A. M., Horcea-Milcu, A. I., Montana, J., Steyaert, P., Zaehringer, J. G., Bednarek, A. T., Curran, K., Fada, S. J., Hutton, J., Leimona, B., Pickering, T. & Rondeau, R., 01.01.2022, In: Global Environmental Change. 72, 17 p., 102422.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Broadening the scope of ecosystem services research: Disaggregation as a powerful concept for sustainable natural resource management
Brück, M., Abson, D. J., Fischer, J. & Schultner, J., 01.02.2022, In: Ecosystem Services. 53, 11 p., 101399.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
How cognitive issue bracketing affects interdependent decision-making in negotiations
Warsitzka, M., Zhang, H., Loschelder, D. D., Majer, J. & Trötschel, R., 01.03.2022, In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 99, 16 p., 104268.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Entrepreneurship-driven organizational transformation for sustainability: a sensemaking lens
Hübel, C., 24.01.2022, In: Journal of Organizational Change Management. 35, 1, p. 240-256 17 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review