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
Chagga women´s connections with nature: fostering relationality through arts-based methods
Pearson, J., Massawe, J. J., Mbaruku, A. P., Mramba, E. I., Mwampamba, T. H. & Martín-López, B., 03.2025, In: Ecosystems and People. 21, 1, 21 p., 2459108.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Temporal changes in taxonomic and functional alpha and beta diversity across tree communities in subtropical Atlantic forests
Freitag Kramer, J. M., Bordin, K. M., Bergamin, R. S., Klipel, J., Picolotto, R. C., Zanini, K. J., Zwiener, V. P. & Müller, S. C., 25.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Oikos. 15 p., e10961.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Towards a global understanding of tree mortality
International Tree Mortality Network, Senf, C., Esquivel-Muelbert, A., Pugh, T. A. M. & Klipel, J., 03.2025, In: New Phytologist. 245, 6, p. 2377-2392 16 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- E-pub ahead of print
Diversity on a small scale: phylogeography of the locally endemic dwarf succulent genus Oophytum (Aizoaceae) in the Knersvlakte of South Africa
Schmidt, S. A., Schmiedel, U., Carstens, F., Rau, A.-L. & Rudolph-Bartsch, B., 04.12.2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Annals of Botany. 21 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
How to promote spider diversity of heathlands: impact of management intensity
Matevski, D., Temperton, V. M., Walmsley, D., Haerdtle, W., Daniels, J. & Boutaud, E., 07.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 2025, 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Discussion on the validity of commonly used reliability indices in sports medicine and exercise science: a critical review with data simulations
Warneke, K., Gronwald, T., Wallot, S., Magno, A., Hillebrecht, M. & Wirth, K., 13.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: European Journal of Applied Physiology. 16 p., e0216065.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- E-pub ahead of print
Investigating values and environmental attitudes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Detjen, L., Schröder, S., Schwenck, M., Summa, J., Schreiber, J. & von Wehrden, H., 20.01.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Correction to: Tourists’ valuation of nature in protected areas: A systematic review (Ambio, (2023), 52, 6, (1065-1084), 10.1007/s13280-023-01845-0)
Gross, M., Pearson, J., Arbieu, U., Riechers, M., Thomsen, S. & Martín-López, B., 30.01.2025, In: Ambio. 54, p. 756-757 2 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Trade-offs for healthy and sustainable diets in Europe: Social-ecological dynamics in an intensive agricultural system
Jiménez-Aceituno, A., López-Rodríguez, M. D., Castro, A. J., Cortés-Calderón, S., Collste, D., Aparicio, G., Rölfer, L., Bote, M. A., Marín, L. M. R., Gómez-Tenorio, M. Á. & González-Martín, B., 01.03.2025, In: Global Food Security. 44, 21 p., 100829.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Intellectual humility links to metacognitive ability
Fischer, H., Kause, A. & Huff, M., 05.2025, In: Personality and Individual Differences. 238, 7 p., 113028.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review