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. 2018
  2. Published

    Evidence for climatic changes around the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary (MBB) inferred from a multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental study of the GBY#2 core, Jordan River Valley, Israel

    Proborukmi, M. S., Urban, B., Mischke, S., Mienis, H. K., Melamed, Y., Dupont-Nivet, G., Jourdan, F. & Goren-Inbar, N., 01.01.2018, In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 489, p. 166-185 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Global assessment of the non-equilibrium theory of rangelands: Revisited and refined

    Engler, J. O. & von Wehrden, H., 01.01.2018, In: Land Use Policy. 70, p. 479 - 484 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Ingenieurökologische Sanierungsansätze für den Bederkesaer See

    Schneider, P., Reincke, H., Ochmann, S., Majrada, H., Jakob, M. & Seewald, M., 01.01.2018, In: Wasserwirtschaft. 108, 1, p. 23-29 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Jointly experimenting for transformation? Shaping real-world laboratories by comparing them

    Schäpke, N., Stelzer, F., Caniglia, G., Bergmann, M., Wanner, M., Singer-Brodowski, M., Loorbach, D., Olsson, P., Baedeker, C. & Lang, D. J., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, p. 85-96 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Klimawandel, Nachhaltigkeit und Transformationsgestaltung

    Heinrichs, H., 01.01.2018, Hamburger Klimabericht: Wissen über Klima, Klimawandel und Auswirkungen in Hamburg und Norddeutschland. von Storch, H., Meinke, I. & Claußen, M. (eds.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Spektrum, p. 293-302 10 p.

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

  7. Published

    Konfliktfeld „neue Gentechnik“: Regulierung landwirtschaftlicher Biotechnologien zwischen Innovation und Vorsorge

    Friedrich, B. & Hackfort, S. K., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 2, p. 211-215 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Labs in the real world: Advancing transdisciplinary research and sustainability transformation: Mapping the field and emerging lines of inquiry

    Schäpke, N., Bergmann, M., Stelzer, F. & Lang, D. J., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, Supplement 1, p. 8-11 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Making Collective Learning Coherent: An Adaptive Approach to the Practice of Transdisciplinary Pedagogy

    Clarke, E. & Ashhurst, C., 01.01.2018, Transdisciplinary Theory, Practice and Education: The Art of Collaborative Research and Collective Learning. Fam, D., Neuhauser, L. & Gibbs, P. (eds.). 1 ed. Cham: Springer, Vol. 1. p. 151-165 15 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  10. Published

    Measuring what matters in sustainable consumption: an integrative framework for the selection of relevant behaviors

    Geiger, S., Fischer, D. & Schrader, U., 01.01.2018, In: Sustainable Development. 26, 1, p. 18–33 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Narrations of Sustainability How to Tell the Story of the Socio-Ecological Transformation

    Fischer, D., Schaefer, T. & Borner, J., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 3, p. 334-336 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Scalable capacity-building for geographically dispersed learners: Designing the MOOC "Sustainable Energy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)"

    Wolf, F., Seyfarth, F. C. & Pflaum, E., 01.01.2018, Open and Distance Learning Initiatives for Sustainable Development. Pandey, U. C. & Indrakanti, V. (eds.). IGI Global Publishing, p. 58-83 26 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  13. Published

    Scenario modeling of ammonia emissions from surface applied urea under temperate conditions: application effects and model comparison

    Pacholski, A., Doehler, J., Schmidhalter, U. & Kreuter, T., 01.01.2018, In: Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 110, 1, p. 177-193 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Stakeholder Engagement for Corporate Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of B2C and B2B Companies

    Johnson, M., Redlbacher, F. & Schaltegger, S., 01.01.2018, In: Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 25, 4, p. 659-673 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Strengthening the transformative impulse while mainstreaming real-world labs: Lessons learned from three years of BaWü-Labs: Lessons learned from three years of BaWü-Labs

    Schäpke, N., Wagner, F., Parodi, O. & Meier-Soylu, S., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 2, p. 262-264 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Sufficiency as policy: necessity, possibilities and limitations

    Spengler, L., 01.01.2018, Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. 327 p. (Umweltsoziologie; vol. 5)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  17. Published

    Sustainability Science with Ozzy Osbourne, Julia Roberts and Ai Weiwei: The Potential of Arts-Based Research for Sustainable Development

    Heinrichs, H., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 1, p. 132-137 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  18. Published

    Sustainable chemistry and the international sustainable chemistry collaborative centre ISC 3

    Elschami, M., Kümmerer, K. & Schneidewind, U., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 2, p. 247-249 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    The economic drivers and consequences of agricultural specialization

    Abson, D. J., 01.01.2018, Agroecosystem Diversity: Reconciling Contemporary Agriculture and Environmental Quality. Lemaire, G., Carvalho, P., Kronberg, S. & Recous, S. (eds.). Academic Press Inc., p. 301-315 15 p.

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

  20. Published

    When Individual Preferences Defy Sustainability — Can Merit Good Arguments Close the Gap?

    Hoberg, N. & Strunz, S., 01.01.2018, In: Ecological Economics. 143, p. 286-293 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Ziele, Strukturen, Wirkungen transformativer Forschung

    Stelzer, F., Becker, S., Timm, J.-M., Adomßent, M., Simon, K.-H., Schneidewind, U., Renn, O., Lang, D. J. & Ernst, A., 01.01.2018, In: GAIA. 27, 4, p. 405-408 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review