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

    Pflanzengesellschaft des Jahres 2023: Die Strandlingsrasen (Littorelletea uniflorae p.p.)

    Remy, D., Tischew, S., Dierschke, H., Heinken, T., Hölzel, N., Bergmeier, E., Schneider, S., Horn, K. & Härdtle, W., 2023, In: Tuexenia. 42, p. 321-350 30 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Lost in translation? Tanzanian students’ views on sustainability and language, and the implications for the pledge to leave no one behind

    Ulmer, N., Divine, N. & Wydra, K., 13.11.2023, In: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 24, 7, p. 1381-1397 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Ecological quality as a coffee quality enhancer. A review

    Torrez, V., Benavides-Frias, C., Jacobi, J. & Speranza, C. I., 01.02.2023, In: Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 43, 1, 34 p., 19.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Using the three horizons approach to explore pathways towards positive futures for agricultural landscapes with rich biodiversity

    Schaal, T., Mitchell, M., Scheele, B. C., Ryan, P. & Hanspach, J., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1271-1289 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Transformation of Seafood Side-Streams and Residuals into Valuable Products

    Siddiqui, S. A., Schulte, H., Pleissner, D., Schönfelder, S., Kvangarsnes, K., Dauksas, E., Rustad, T., Cropotova, J., Heinz, V. & Smetana, S., 16.01.2023, In: Foods. 12, 2, 25 p., 422.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Bridging scenario planning and backcasting: A Q-analysis of divergent stakeholder priorities for future landscapes

    Jiren, T. S., Abson, D. J., Schultner, J., Riechers, M. & Fischer, J., 04.2023, In: People and Nature. 5, 2, p. 572-590 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A leverage points perspective on Arctic Indigenous food systems research: a systematic review

    Zimmermann, S., Dermody, B. J., Theunissen, B., Wassen, M. J., Divine, L. M., Padula, V. M., von Wehrden, H. & Dorresteijn, I., 05.2023, In: Sustainability Science. 18, 3, p. 1481-1500 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Sustainable development of supplier performance. An empirical analysis of relationship characteristics in the automotive sector

    Naffin, J., Klewitz, J. & Schaltegger, S., 01.07.2023, In: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 30, 4, p. 1753-1769 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Response diversity as a sustainability strategy

    Walker, B., Crépin, A. S., Nyström, M., Anderies, J. M., Andersson, E., Elmqvist, T., Queiroz, C., Barrett, S., Bennett, E., Cardenas, J. C., Carpenter, S. R., Chapin, F. S., de Zeeuw, A., Fischer, J., Folke, C., Levin, S., Nyborg, K., Polasky, S., Segerson, K., Seto, K. C., Scheffer, M., Shogren, J. F., Tavoni, A., van den Bergh, J., Weber, E. U. & Vincent, J. R., 01.06.2023, In: Nature Sustainability. 6, 6, p. 621-629 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    “What is a ‘very severe cyclone’ please”? Uncovering knowledge and communication gaps in climate resilience realities

    Ghosh, A., Sen, A. & Frietsch, M., 15.02.2023, In: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 86, 17 p., 103499.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Recently viewed

Activities

  1. Meeting Halfway. John C. Lilly‘s Cybernetic Dolphin Experiments (Annual Meeting of the History of Science Society 2013)
  2. Zwischen elektronischer Musik und populärer Avantgarde. Das Studienkonzept des Lüneburger Schwerpunktbereichs ((audio))
  3. Personal care products as source for micropollutants in Greywater-Identification, quantification and on-site treatment
  4. How to get things done with words in Irish English and English English: Pragmatics and dialectology at the cross-road
  5. „Theorie und Praxis: Globales Lernen und Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung – Positionen, Potentiale, Perspektiven“
  6. Integrating Systems Thinking Approaches in Chemical Education for Sustainable Development - Exploring the Status Quo
  7. Advantages and challenges of in silico tools and their contribution to sustainable chemistry with the focus on (Q)SAR
  8. Sustainability and internal supply chain management – A conceptual approach to intra-organisational knowledge transfer
  9. Degradation of the emerging contaminant Atenolol by K2FeVIO4: assessment of biodegradability and degradation products
  10. Pessimism and Optimism of the Future: the Future of the World(s) in the Strategies of Feminism and Digital Technologies
  11. People incorrectly correcting other people“: (Re-)Correcting comments as a means of stancetaking in digital communication
  12. Exploring priority effects in a central European grassland field experiment in order to inform restoration (Symposium)
  13. Kreativ und frei?: Welche Rahmenbedingungen brauchen Kreativwirtschaft und Wissensgesellschaft in einer digitalen Welt?
  14. Das Leuphana-College: ein in Europaeinzigartiges Hochschulmodell: Innovative hochschuldidaktische Veranstaltungsformate
  15. Deciphering Sustainable Consumption: Understanding, Motives and Heuristic Cues in the Context of Personal Care Product.
  16. Degradation of the emerging contaminant Atenolol by K2FeVIO4: assessment of biodegradability and degradation products

Publications

  1. Geißel, Brigitte: Kritische Bürger - Gefahr oder Ressource für die Demokratie? Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag 2011
  2. Can Geodesign Be Used to Facilitate Boundary Management for Planning and Implementation of Nature-based Solutions?
  3. Matching between oral inward–outward movements of object names and oral movements associated with denoted objects
  4. 25 Jahre Conservation Reserve Program der USA: Erfahrungen und Perspektiven für die europäische Agrarumweltpolitik
  5. Case study meta-analysis in the social sciences. Insights on data quality and reliability from a large-N case survey
  6. Hydration and dehydration of salt hydrates and hydroxides for thermal energy storage – kinetics and energy release
  7. Establishment success in a forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning experiment in subtropical China (BEF-China)
  8. Gerhard O. Forde: The Captivation of the Will. Luther vs. Erasmus on Freedom and Bondage, Grand Rapids / Cambridge 2005
  9. Menschliche Würde in der Lebensphase natürlicher Abhängigkeit - Jugendpsychiatrische und sozialpädaogische Aspekte
  10. Using heuristic worked examples to promote solving of reality‑based tasks in mathematics in lower secondary school
  11. The Shareholder Value Effect of System Overloads: An Analysis of Investor Responses to the 2003 Blackout in the US
  12. How do workers gain voice on digital work platforms? Hotspots and blind spots in research on platform worker voice
  13. Do we need livestock grazing to promote Polylepis australis tree recruitment in the Central Argentinean Mountains?
  14. Planungs- und Genehmigungsfragen bei der Finanzierung von Anlagen zur Erzeugung von Strom aus Erneuerbaren Energien
  15. Model-based estimation of pesticides and transformation products and their export pathways in a headwater catchment
  16. Reciprocal relations between emotional exhaustion and episode-specific emotional labour: An experience-sampling study
  17. Utilizing international networks for accelerating research and learning in transformational sustainability science
  18. Mathematical Modeling for Robot 3D Laser Scanning in Complete Darkness Environments to Advance Pipeline Inspection
  19. Einfluss elterlicher Mathematikkompetenz und familialer Prozesse auf den Kompetenzerwerb von Kindern in Mathematik
  20. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)-main concerns and regulatory developments in Europe from an environmental point of view
  21. Tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity drive intraspecific and intraindividual trait variation in temperate forests
  22. Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on soil microbial communities in oak forests persist for more than 100 years
  23. Den eigenen Blick schärfen für das Potenzial und die Qualität von Aufgaben – Ergebnisse aus der aktuellen Forschung
  24. Social and ethical aspects in sustainability performance measurement and assessment. A systematic literature review
  25. What is intergovernmental about the EU’s ‘(new) intergovernmentalist’ turn? Evidence from the Eurozone and asylum crises
  26. Schulentwicklungsbegleitung auf Augenhöhe – die Besonderheiten des Beratungsansatzes der regionalen SchuMaS-Zentren
  27. Tobias Cheung: Organismen - Agenten zwischen Innen- und Außenwelt 1780-1860, (Science Studies) Bielefeld: transcript 2014
  28. Methane yield of biomass from extensive grassland is affected by compositional changes induced by order of arrival
  29. Kraft ist nicht gleich Kraft. Und wie können die Kraftfähigkeiten spielerisch in der Grundschule vermittelt werden?“