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

    Characterising and identifying gaps in sustainability assessments of tourism - a review

    Balas, M. & Abson, D. J., 01.07.2022, In: Tourism Management Perspectives. 43, 101004.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  2. Published

    Carbon fluxes within tree-crop-grass agroforestry system: 13C field labeling and tracing

    Zhou, J., Shao, G., Kumar, A., Shi, L., Kuzyakov, Y. & Pausch, J., 01.10.2022, In: Biology and Fertility of Soils. 58, 7, p. 733-743 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Sustainable Statehood: Reflections on Critical (Pre-)Conditions, Requirements and Design Options

    Heinrichs, H., 02.08.2022, In: Sustainability. 14, 15, 14 p., 9461.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  4. Published

    Activating an Integrative Mindset Improves the Subjective Outcomes of Value-Driven Conflicts

    Schuster, C., Harinck, F. & Trötschel, R., 01.02.2023, In: Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. 16, 1, p. 80-99 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Global temporal typing patterns in foreign language writing: exploring language proficiency through recurrence quantification analysis (RQA)

    Haake, L., Wallot, S., Tschense, M. & Grabowski, J., 02.2024, In: Reading and Writing. 37, 2, p. 385-417 33 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Comparative effectiveness of three versions of a stepped care model for insomnia differing in the amount of therapist support in internet-delivered treatment: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial (GET Sleep)

    Spiegelhalder, K., Baumeister, H., Al-Kamaly, A., Bader, M., Bauereiss, N., Benz, F., Braun, L., Buntrock, C., Burkhardt, M., Cuijpers, P., Domschke, K., Dülsen, P., Franke, M., Frase, L., Heber, E., Helm, K., Jentsch, T., Johann, A., Küchler, A. M., Kuhn, M., Lehr, D., Maun, A., Morin, C. M., Moshagen, M., Richter, K., Schiel, J., Simon, L., Spille, L., Weeß, H. G., Riemann, D. & Ebert, D. D., 01.08.2022, In: BMJ Open. 12, 8, 11 p., e058212.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Using measures of reading time regularity (RTR) to quantify eye movement dynamics, and how they are shaped by linguistic information

    Tschense, M. & Wallot, S., 01.05.2022, In: Journal of Vision. 22, 6, 21 p., 9.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Who can nudge for sustainable development? How nudge source renders dynamic norms (in-)effective in eliciting sustainable behavior

    Boenke, L., Panning, M., Thurow, A., Hörisch, J. & Loschelder, D. D., 25.09.2022, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 368, 11 p., 133246.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Operationalising the leverage points perspective for empirical research

    Riechers, M., Fischer, J., Manlosa, A. O., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S. & Sala, J. E., 01.08.2022, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 57, 101206.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review