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

    Growth and fatty acid composition of Acutodesmus obliquus under different light spectra and temperatures

    Helamieh, M., Gebhardt, A., Reich, M., Kuhn, F., Kerner, M. & Kümmerer, K., 09.2021, In: Lipids. 56, 5, p. 485-498 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The ground beetle tribe platynini bonelli, 1810 (Coleoptera, carabidae) in the southern levant: Dichotomous and interactive identification tools, ecological traits, and distribution

    Assmann, T., Boutaud, E., Buse, J., Drees, C., Friedman, A. L. L., Harry, I., Khoury, F., Orbach, E., Renan, I., Schmidt, C., Schmidt, K., Wrase, D. W. & Zumstein, P., 16.06.2021, In: ZooKeys. 2021, 1044, p. 449-478 30 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Machine learning for optimization of energy and plastic consumption in the production of thermoplastic parts in SME

    Willenbacher, M., Scholten, J. & Wohlgemuth, V., 16.06.2021, In: Sustainability. 13, 12, 20 p., 6800.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Implementation digitaler Medien in die naturwissenschaftliche Lehramtsausbildung

    Stinken-Rösner, L., 2021, Fachliche Bildung und digitale Transformation - Fachdidaktische Forschung und Diskurse: Fachtagung der Gesellschaft für Fachdidaktik 2020. Maurer, C., Rincke, K. & Hemmer, M. (eds.). Regensburg: Universität Regensburg, p. 181-184 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  5. Published

    Decision Support System

    Schrickel, I., 06.2021, Enzyklopädie der Genauigkeit. Krajewski, M., von Schöning, A. & Wimmer, M. (eds.). Konstanz: Konstanz University Press, p. 62-73 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaResearch

  6. Published

    Boundary speak in sustainability studies: Computational reading of a transversal field

    Herberg, J., Schmitz, S., Stasiak, D. & Schmieg, G., 10.06.2021, In: Science and Public Policy. 48, 3, p. 398-411 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Statistical analysis

    Fetzer, I., Piemontese, L., Rocha, J. C. & Martín-López, B., 30.07.2021, The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems. Biggs, R., de Vos, A., Preiser, R., Clements, H., Maciejewski, K. & Schlüter, M. (eds.). Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 252-269 18 p.

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

  8. Published

    What are social- ecological systems and social-ecological systems research?

    Biggs, R., Clements, H., de Vos, A., Folke, C., Manyani, A., Maciejewski, K., Martín-López, B., Preiser, R., Selomane, O. & Schlüter, M., 30.07.2021, The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems. Biggs, R., de Vos, A., Preiser, R., Clements, H., Maciejewski, K. & Schlüter, M. (eds.). London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 3-26 24 p. (Routledge international handbooks).

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

  9. Published

    Engineered Societies

    Flack, J. C. & Laubichler, M. D., 2021, Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: Thirty Years of Complexity Thinking at the Santa Fe Institute 1984-2019. Krakauer, D. C. (ed.). The Santa FE Institute Presse (SFI), p. 257-264 8 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  10. Published

    Knowledge Decolonization à la Grounded Theory: Control Juggling in Research Situations

    Eguia Huerta, M., 03.07.2020, In: Social Epistemology. 34, 4, p. 370-381 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review