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
Correction to: “We cannot escape this”: discussing leverage points for sustainability across scales with the example of Ouvéa, Kanaky New Caledonia (Regional Environmental Change, (2024), 24, 4, (146), 10.1007/s10113-024-02290-9)
Riechers, M., Baumann, L., Braun, M., Ganachaud, A., Heeg, P. & Sabinot, C., 03.2025, In: Regional Environmental Change. 25, 1, 2 p., 8.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Temporal variability in native plant composition clouds impact of increasing non-native richness along elevational gradients in Tenerife
Buhaly, M., Ratier Backes, A., Arévalo, J. R. & Haider, S., 01.03.2025, In: Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 66, 10 p., 125845.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
(Re)productivity: a category for the critical analysis of bioeconomic approaches
Biesecker, A. & Hofmeister, S., 12.2024, In: Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy. 20, 1, 9 p., 2428465.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Students’ Beliefs About Trigger Warnings
Sevincer, A. T., Tenbrueggen, L. & Sokolis, M., 13.12.2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Psychological Reports. 13 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Chemie für alle: Diversität anerkennen – Barrieren erkennen – Partizipation ermöglichen im Chemieunterricht
Rott, L., Abels, S., Nehring, A. & Menthe, J., 2024, In: Naturwissenschaft im Unterricht - Chemie. 35, 204, p. 2-9 8 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Transfer › peer-review
- Published
Lebensmittel analysieren und den Nutri-Score verstehen: Anwendung des NinU-Unterstützungsrasters bei der Gestaltung einer Lernumgebung zur Minimierung von Barrieren beim Forschenden Lernen
Hofer, E. & Abels, S., 2024, In: Naturwissenschaft im Unterricht - Chemie. 35, 204, p. 30-35 6 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Transfer › peer-review
- Published
From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex
Mempel, F., Corbera, E., Labajos, B. R. & Challies, E., 11.2024, In: Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. 7, 2, p. 559-582 24 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Sufficiency as a "Strategy of the Enough": Curbing ecological crises and injustices. A summary of the German Advisory Council on the Environment's discussion paper
Michaelis, J., Vogel, B., Strunz, S., Lucht, W., Dahms, H., Dornack, C., Geissler, A., Hertin, J., Hoffart, F., Kemfert, C., Klein, M., Köck, W., Lage, J., Marquard, E., Schmalz, S., Settele, J., Sommer, B., Weiss, S. & Wiegand, S., 29.10.2024, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 33, 3, p. 275-281 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Global decoupling of functional and phylogenetic diversity in plant communities
Author Collaboration of "Global decoupling of functional and phylogenetic diversity in plant communities", Hähn, G. J. A., Damasceno, G., Alvarez-Davila, E., Aubin, I., Bauters, M., Bergmeier, E. & Haider, S., 02.2025, In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. 9, 2, p. 237-248 12 p., e12976.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Between the lines: linking carbon management to carbon accounting actions in the pursuit of corporate decarbonization
Johnson, M. P., Strobel, J. & Trencher, G., 13.05.2025, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 38, 4, p. 1121-1148 28 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review