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. 2017
  2. Published

    Experiments and evidence in sustainability science: A typology

    Caniglia, G., Schäpke, N., Lang, D. J., Abson, D. J., Lüderitz, C., Wiek, A., Laubichler, M., Gralla, F. & von Wehrden, H., 15.12.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 169, p. 39-47 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Experiments in climate governance: A systematic review of research on energy and built environment transitions

    Kivimaa, P., Hildén, M., Huitema, D., Jordan, A. & Newig, J., 15.12.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 169, p. 17 - 29 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Learning through evaluation: A tentative evaluative scheme for sustainability transition experiments

    Lüderitz, C., Schäpke, N., Wiek, A., Lang, D. J., Bergmann, M., Bos, J. J., Burch, S., Davies, A., Evans, J., König, A., Farrelly, M. A., Forrest, N., Frantzeskaki, N., Gibson, R. B., Kay, B., Loorbach, D., McCormick, K., Parodi, O., Rauschmayer, F., Schneidewind, U., Stauffacher, M., Stelzer, F., Trencher, G., Venjakob, J., Vergragt, P. J., von Wehrden, H. & Westley, F. R., 15.12.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 169, p. 61-76 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Urban BaWü-Labs: Challenges and Solutions when Expanding the Real-World Lab Infrastructure

    Schäpke, N., Stelzer, F., Marg, O., Bergmann, M., Miller, E., Wagner, F. & Lang, D. J., 15.12.2017, In: GAIA. 26, 4, p. 366-368 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published

    ‘It's the Psychology, Stupid!’: Understanding Human Cognition Biases to Inform Sustainable Behavior

    Engler, J.-O., Abson, D. & Wehrden, H., 14.12.2017, Rochester: SSRN Social Science Research Network, 23 p. (SSRN; no. 3086532).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  7. Published

    The self-sabotage of conservation: Reply to Manfredo et al.

    Ives, C. D. & Fischer, J., 06.12.2017, In: Conservation Biology. 31, 6, p. 1483 - 1485 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  8. Published

    Bryophytes and organic layers control uptake of airborne nitrogen in low-N environments

    Bähring, A., Fichtner, A., Friedrich, U., Von Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 04.12.2017, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 8, 12 p., 2080.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published
  10. Published

    Antimicrobial activity of pharmaceutical cocktails in sewage treatment plant effluent: An experimental and predictive approach to mixture risk assessment

    Menz, J., Baginska, E., Arrhenius, Å., Haiß, A., Backhaus, T. & Kümmerer, K., 01.12.2017, In: Environmental Pollution. 231, 2, p. 1507-1517 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Autotrophic and heterotrophic microalgae and cyanobacteria cultivation for food and feed: life cycle assessment

    Smetana, S., Sandmann, M., Rohn, S., Pleißner, D. & Heinz, V., 01.12.2017, In: Bioresource Technology. 245, Part A, p. 162-170 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Belowground top-down and aboveground bottom-up effects structure multitrophic community relationships in a biodiverse forest

    Schuldt, A., Bruelheide, H., Buscot, F., Assmann, T., Erfmeier, A., Klein, A.-M., Ma, K., Scholten, T., Staab, M., Wirth, C., Zhang, J. & Wubet, T., 01.12.2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 1, 9 p., 4222.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Drought effects on root and needle terpenoid content of a coastal and an interior Douglas fir provenance

    Kleiber, A., Duan, Q., Jansen, K., Junker, L. V., Kammerer, B., Rennenberg, H., Ensminger, I., Gessler, A. & Kreuzwieser, J., 01.12.2017, In: Tree Physiology. 37, 12, p. 1648-1658 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a guided internet- and mobile-based depression intervention for individuals with chronic back pain: protocol of a multi-centre randomised controlled trial

    Lin, J., Sander, L., Paganini, S., Schlicker, S., Ebert, D., Berking, M., Bengel, J., Nobis, S., Lehr, D., Mittag, O., Riper, H. & Baumeister, H., 01.12.2017, In: BMJ Open. 7, 12, 11 p., e015226 .

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Environmental justice and care: critical emancipatory contributions to sustainability discourse

    Gottschlich, D. & Bellina, L., 01.12.2017, In: Agriculture and Human Values. 34, 4, p. 941-953 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Interconnected place-based social–ecological research can inform global sustainability

    Balvanera, P., Calderón-Contreras, R., Castro, A. J., Felipe-Lucia, M. R., Geijzendorffer, I. R., Jacobs, S., Martín-López, B., Arbieu, U., Speranza, C. I., Locatelli, B., Harguindeguy, N. P., Mercado, I. R., Spierenburg, M. J., Vallet, A., Lynes, L. & Gillson, L., 01.12.2017, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 29, p. 1-7 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  17. Published

    Introduction to the symposium on feminist perspectives on human–nature relations

    Gottschlich, D., Mölders, T. & Padmanbhan, M., 01.12.2017, In: Agriculture and Human Values. 34, 4, p. 933-940 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Mapping a sustainable future: Community learning in dialogue at the science–society interface

    Barth, M., Lang, D. J., Luthardt, P. & Vilsmaier, U., 01.12.2017, In: International Review of Education. 63, 6, p. 811 - 828 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Nature-gender relations within a Social-Ecological Perspective on European Multifunctional Agriculture: The Case of Agrobiodiversity

    Burandt, A. & Mölders, T., 01.12.2017, In: Agriculture and Human Values. 34, 4, p. 955–967 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Photodegradation of micropollutants using V-UV/UV-C processes: Triclosan as a model compound

    Alfiya, Y., Friedler, E., Westphal, J., Olsson, O. & Dubowski, Y., 01.12.2017, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 601-602, p. 397-404 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Sustainable business model research and practice: Emerging field or passing fancy?

    Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Dembek, K., 01.12.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 168, p. 1668-1678 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review