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

    Thinking beyond Western commercial honeybee hives: towards improved conservation of honey bee diversity

    Matias, D. M. S., Borgemeister, C. & von Wehrden, H., 01.12.2017, In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 26, 14, p. 3499 - 3504 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  3. Published

    Transnational collaboration for sustainability in higher education: Lessons from a systematic review

    Caniglia, G., Lüderitz, C., Groß, M., Muhr, M., John, B., Withycombe Keeler, L., von Wehrden, H., Laubichler, M., Wiek, A. & Lang, D., 01.12.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 168, p. 764-779 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Year-round cattle and horse grazing supports the restoration of abandoned, dry sandy grassland and heathland communities by supressing Calamagrostis epigejos and enhancing species richness

    Henning, K., Lorenz, A., von Oheimb, G., Härdtle, W. & Tischew, S., 01.12.2017, In: Journal for Nature Conservation. 40, p. 120-130 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Business Model Experimentation for Circularity: Driving sustainability in a large international clothing retailer

    Bocken, N. M. P., Miller, K., Weissbrod, I., Holgado, M. & Evans, S., 12.2017, In: Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment. 2017, 1, p. 85-122 38 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Green chemistry and the leisure industry: New business models for sustainability

    Pleissner, D., 12.2017, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 8, p. 1-4 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Nachhaltige Chemie - das künftige Leitbild

    Kümmerer, K., 12.2017, In: Angewandte Chemie. 129, 52, p. 16640-16641 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  8. Published

    Sustainability conflicts in Coastal India: Hazards, changing climate and development discourse in Indian Sundarbans

    Ghosh, A., 12.2017, 1 ed. Germany: Springer. 245 p. (Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  9. Published

    Toward a methodical framework for comprehensively assessing forest multifunctionality

    Trogisch, S., Schuldt, A., Bauhus, J., Blum, J. A., Both, S., Buscot, F., Castro-Izaguierre, N., Chesters, D., Durka, W., Eichenberg, D., Erfmeier, A., Fischer, M., Geißler, C., Germany, M., Goebes, P., Gutknecht, J., Hahn, C. Z., Haider, S., Härdtle, W., He, J.-S., Hector, A., Hönig, L., Huang, Y., Klein, A.-M., Kühn, P., Kunz, M., Leppert, K. N., Li, Y., Liu, X., Niklaus, P. A., Pei, Z., Pietsch, K., Prinz, R., Proß, T., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schmidt, K., Scholten, T., Seitz, S., Song, Z., Staab, M., von Oheimb, G., Weißbecker, C., Welk, E., Wirth, C., Wubet, T., Yang, B., Yang, X., Zhu, C.-D., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Bruelheide, H., 12.2017, In: Ecology and Evolution. 7, 24, p. 10652-10674 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Upsides and downsides of the sharing economy: Collaborative consumption business models’ stakeholder value impacts and their relationship to context

    Dreyer, B., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Hamann, R. & Faccer, K., 12.2017, In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 125, p. 87-104 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Online-scheduling using past and real-time data: An assessment by discrete event simulation using exponential smoothing

    Heger, J., Grundstein, S. & Freitag, M., 19.11.2017, In: CIRP - Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology. 19, p. 158-163 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Democratising platform governance in the sharing economy: An analytical framework and initial empirical insights

    Martin, C. J., Upham, P. & Klapper, R., 10.11.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 166, p. 1395-1406 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Scale in environmental governance: moving from concepts and cases to consolidation

    Newig, J. & Moss, T., 06.11.2017, In: Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning. 19, 5, p. 473-479 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Bridging divides in sustainability science

    Lang, D. J., Wiek, A. & von Wehrden, H., 01.11.2017, In: Sustainability Science. 12, 6, p. 875 - 879 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  15. Published

    Disaggregating ecosystem services and disservices in the cultural landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia: a study of rural perceptions

    Dorresteijn, I., Schultner, J., Collier, N. F., Hylander, K., Senbeta, F. & Fischer, J., 01.11.2017, In: Landscape Ecology. 32, 11, p. 2151-2165 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Early-Career Researchers’ Perceptions of the Prevalence of Questionable Research Practices, Potential Causes, and Open Science

    Stürmer, S., Oeberst, A., Trötschel, R. & Decker, O., 01.11.2017, In: Social Psychology. 48, 6, p. 365-371 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Mapping Complexity in Environmental Governance: A comparative analysis of 37 priority issues in German water management

    Kirschke, S., Borchardt, D. & Newig, J., 01.11.2017, In: Environmental Policy and Governance. 27, 6, p. 534 - 559 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Middle Pleistocene interglacial peat deposits from Northern Germany investigated by 230Th/U and palynology: Case studies from Wedel and Schöningen

    Sierralta, M., Urban, B., Linke, G. & Frechen, M., 01.11.2017, In: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften. 168 , 3, p. 373 - 387 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published
  20. Published

    Accuracy and bias of methods used for root length measurements in functional root research

    Delory, B., Weidlich, E. W. A., Meder, L., Lütje, A., Duijnen, R. V., Weidlich, R. & Temperton, V. M., 11.2017, In: Methods in Ecology and Evolution. 8, 11, p. 1594-1606 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relations in European forests depend on environmental context.

    Ratcliffe, S., Wirth, C., Jucker, T., van der Plas, F., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Verheyen, K., Allan, E., Benavides, R., Bruelheide, H., Ohse, B., Paquette, A., Ampoorter, E., Bastias, C. C., Bauhus, J., Bonal, D., Bouriaud, O., Bussotti, F., Carnol, M., Castagneyrol, B., Checko, E., Dawud, S. M., de Wandeler, H., Domisch, T., Finér, L., Fischer, M., Fotelli, M., Gessler, A., Granier, A., Grossiord, C., Guyot, V., Haase, J., Hättenschwiler, S., Jactel, H., Jaroszewicz, B., Joly, F.-X., Kambach, S., Kolb, S., Koricheva, J., Liebergesell, M., Milligan, H., Müller, S., Muys, B., Nguyen, D., Nock, C., Pollastrini, M., Purschke, O., Radoglou, K., Rauland-Rasmussen, K., Roger, F., Ruiz-Benito, P., Seidl, R., Selvi, F., Seiferling, I., Stenlid, J., Valladares, F., Vesterdal, L. & Baeten, L., 11.2017, In: Ecology Letters. 20, 11, p. 1414-1426 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review