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

    Coupling ordination techniques and GAM to spatially predict vegetation assemblages along a climatic gradient in an ENSO-affected region of extremely high climate variability

    Muenchow, J., Feilhauer, H., Bräuning, A., Bayer, F., Rodríguez, E. F., Rodríguez, R. A. & von Wehrden, H., 01.11.2013, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 24, 6, p. 1154-1166 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Landcover dynamics in relation to western tragopan occurrence in Pakistan: A regional assessment

    Saqib, Z., Malik, R. N. & Von Wehrden, H., 01.01.2013, In: Pakistan Journal of Botany. 45, S 1 (Special Issue), p. 551-559 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Contribution of illegal hunting, culling of pest species, road accidents and feral dogs to biodiversity loss in established oil-palm landscapes

    Azhar, B., Wood, J. T., Lindenmayer, D. B., Fischer, J., Manning, A. D., McElhinny, C. & Zakaria, M., 01.01.2013, In: Wildlife Research. 40, 1, p. 1-9 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    The influence of agricultural system, stand structural complexity and landscape context on foraging birds in oil palm landscapes

    Azhar, B., Lindenmayer, D. B., Wood, J., Manning, A., McElhinny, C., Zakaria, M. & Fischer, J., 01.04.2013, In: Ibis. 155, 2, p. 297-312 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    A review of transdisciplinary research in sustainability science

    Brandt, P., Ernst, A., Gralla, F., Lüderitz, C., Lang, D., Newig, J., Reinert, F., Abson, D. & von Wehrden, H., 08.2013, In: Ecological Economics. 92, August, p. 1-15 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Empfehlungen für die marktbezogene Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation großer Reiseveranstalter: Untersucht am Beispiel der Kuoni Reisen AG, Schweiz

    Pieper, E., 2013, Lüneburg: Centre for Sustainability Management, 154 p.

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  7. Published

    Zeit für Systematik: Nachhaltigkeit zwischen Risiko- und Chancenmanagement

    Schaltegger, S., 2013, In: OSCAR.trends. p. 46-50 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  8. Published

    From Basic Ecology to the Challenges of Modern Society: Book of Abstracts

    Drees, C. (Editor) & Oheimb, G. (Editor), 2012, Berlin: Gesellschaft für Ökologie. 331 p. (Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ökologie; vol. 42)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesConference proceedingsResearch

  9. Published

    Collaboration between the natural, social and human sciences in Global Change Research

    Holm, P., Goodsite, M. E., Cloetingh, S. A. P. L., Agnoletti, M., Moldan, B., Lang, D. J., Leemans, R., Moeller, J. O., Buendía, M. P., Pohl, W., Scholz, R. W., Sors, A., Vanheusden, B., Yusoff, K. & Zondervan, R., 04.2013, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 28, Special Issue, p. 25-35 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Klimaschutz durch Moorrenaturierung: Ansätze zur ökonomischen Bewertung

    Köbbing, J. F., Groth, M., Groth, M. & Oheimb, G., 2012, 1. ed. Stuttgart: Ibidem Verlag. 129 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch