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

    Woody vegetation of a Peruvian tropical dry forest along a climatic gradient depends more on soil than annual precipitation

    Muenchow, J., von Wehrden, H., Rodriguez, E. F., Rodríguez, R. A., Bayer, F. & Richter, M., 03.2013, In: Erdkunde. 67, 3, p. 241-248 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Wood-pastures in a traditional rural region of Eastern Europe: Characteristics, management and status

    Hartel, T., Dorresteijn, I., Klein, C., Máthé, O., Moga, C. I., Öllerer, K., Roellig, M., von Wehrden, H. & Fischer, J., 01.10.2013, In: Biological Conservation. 166, p. 267-275 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Live-Bericht vom IKEA-Workshop 2006

    Kalisch, C., 2013, Agenten des Nachhaltigkeitswandels: 10 Jahre unterwegs mit dem MBA Sustainability Management. Lüneburg: Centre for Sustainability Management, p. 61 1 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksOtherTransfer

  4. Published

    Space and habitat use by wild Bactrian camels in the Transaltai Gobi of southern Mongolia

    Kaczensky, P., Adiya, Y. A., von Wehrden, H., Mijiddorj, B., Walzer, C., Güthlin, D., Ebkhbileg, D. & Reading, R. P., 01.2014, In: Biological Conservation. 169, p. 311-318 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Zukunftsstrategie Nachhaltiges Unternehmertum: Vom konventionellen Management zum Sustainable Entrepreneurship

    Grünberg-Bochard, J. & Schaltegger, S., 2014, Managementperspektiven für die Zivilgesellschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts: Management als Liberal Art. von Müller, C. & Zinth, C.-P. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Gabler Verlag, p. 133-152 20 p.

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

  7. Published

    Im Zeitalter des Homo Collaborans: Sharing Economy

    Heinrichs, H., 2013, In: Politische Ökologie. 135, 4/2013, p. 99-106 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer

  8. Published

    Abfallvermeidungsprogramme: Herausforderung an Bund und Länder

    Schomerus, T., 2013, Das neue Recht der Kreislaufwirtschaft. Kloepfer, M. (ed.). Berlin: Duncker & Humblot GmbH, p. 75-97 23 p. (Schriften zum Umweltrecht; vol. 179).

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

  9. Published

    Soil texture and altitude, respectively, largely determine the floristic gradient of the most diverse fog oasis in the Peruvian desert

    Muenchow, J., Hauenstein, S., Bräuning, A., Bäumler, R., Rodríguez, E. F. & von Wehrden, H., 01.09.2013, In: Journal of Tropical Ecology. 29, 5, p. 427-438 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Traits of butterfly communities change from specialist to generalist characteristics with increasing land-use intensity

    Börschig, C., Klein, A.-M., von Wehrden, H. & Krauss, J., 11.2013, In: Basic and Applied Ecology. 14, 7, p. 547–554 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review