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. 2024
  2. Published

    Provisions for nullification of conservation and management measures in RFMO objection procedures

    Schatz, V., 01.08.2024, In: Marine Policy. 166, 10 p., 106230.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Carnivores’ contributions to people in Europe

    Palacios-Pacheco, S., Martín-López, B., Expósito-Granados, M., Requena-Mullor, J. M., Lozano, J., Sánchez-Zapata, J. A., Morales-Reyes, Z. & Castro, A. J., 08.2024, In: Ecology and Society. 29, 3, 9.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Determination and risk assessment of UV filters and benzotriazole UV stabilizers in wastewater from a wastewater treatment plant in Lüneburg, Germany

    Ajibola, A. S., Reich, M. & Kümmerer, K., 08.2024, In: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 196, 8, 19 p., 725.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Disentangling gender and social difference for just and transformative biocultural approaches

    Díaz-Reviriego, I., Torralba, M., Vizuete, B., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Pearson, J., Heindorf, C., LLanque Zonta, A. & Oteros-Rozas, E., 08.2024, In: People and Nature. 6, 4, p. 1394-1406 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    For the good of the people: establishing public value creation as an objective for sustainable entrepreneurship policy

    Corredor Jimenez, J., Norris, S. & Gebhardt, L., 08.2024, In: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing. 16, 2, p. 242-261 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Mainstreaming regenerative dynamics for sustainability

    Fischer, J., Farny, S., Abson, D. J., Zuin Zeidler, V., von Salisch, M., Schaltegger, S., Martín-López, B., Temperton, V. M. & Kümmerer, K., 08.2024, In: Nature Sustainability. 7, 8, p. 964–972 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    The importance of understanding the multiple dimensions of power in stakeholder participation for effective biodiversity conservation

    Lécuyer, L., Balian, E. V., Butler, J. R. A., Barnaud, C., Calla, S., Locatelli, B., Newig, J., Pettit, J., Pound, D., Quétier, F. F., Salvatori, V., Von Korff, Y. & Young, J. C., 08.2024, In: People and Nature. 6, 4, p. 1407-1420 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    The urgent need for designing greener drugs

    Brodin, T., Bertram, M. G., Arnold, K. E., Boxall, A. B. A., Brooks, B. W., Cerveny, D., Jörg, M., Kidd, K. A., Lertxundi, U., Martin, J. M., May, L. T., McCallum, E. S., Michelangeli, M., Tyler, C. R., Wong, B. B. M., Kümmerer, K. & Orive, G., 08.2024, In: Nature Sustainability. 7, 8, p. 949-951 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  10. Published

    The elephant in the room: How do we regulate gas transportation infrastructure as gas demand declines?

    Rosenow, J., Lowes, R. & Kemfert, C., 19.07.2024, In: One Earth. 7, 7, p. 1158-1161 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  11. Published

    Institutional rearrangements in the north Luangwa ecosystem: Implications of a shift to community based natural resource management for equity in protected area governance

    Kachali, R. N., Dawson, N. M. & Loos, J., 15.07.2024, In: Heliyon. 10, 13, 12 p., e33549.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Opting Out of unclos Tribunals: The Impact of Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v. Kenya)

    Benatar, M. & Schatz, V. J., 15.07.2024, In: Portuguese Yearbook of the Law of the Sea. 1, 1, p. 117-134 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Assessing Drifting Fish Aggregating Device (dFAD) Abandonment under International Marine Pollution Law

    Schatz, V., 01.07.2024, In: Transnational Environmental Law. 13, 2, p. 243-263 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Biodegradation of Flavonoids – Influences of structural features

    Schnarr, L., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 01.07.2024, In: Chemosphere. 359, 11 p., 142234.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Design of greener drugs: aligning parameters in pharmaceutical R&D and drivers for environmental impact

    Vidaurre, R., Bramke, I., Puhlmann, N., Owen, S. F., Angst, D., Moermond, C., Venhuis, B., Lombardo, A., Kümmerer, K., Sikanen, T., Ryan, J., Häner, A., Janer, G., Roggo, S. & Perkins, A. N., 01.07.2024, In: Drug Discovery Today. 29, 7, 10 p., 104022.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  16. Published

    Land use modulates resistance of grasslands against future climate and inter-annual climate variability in a large field experiment

    Korell, L., Andrzejak, M., Berger, S., Durka, W., Haider, S., Hensen, I., Herion, Y., Höfner, J., Kindermann, L., Klotz, S., Knight, T. M., Linstädter, A., Madaj, A. M., Merbach, I., Michalski, S., Plos, C., Roscher, C., Schädler, M., Welk, E. & Auge, H., 01.07.2024, In: Global Change Biology. 30, 7, 16 p., e17418.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Taxonomic and functional changes in mountain meadow communities four years after transplantation to a lowland environment

    Haider, S., Schaub, C. & Lachmuth, S., 01.07.2024, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 35, 4, 16 p., e13280.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    The effect of neighbor species' phylogenetic and trait difference on tree growth in subtropical forests

    Klipel, J., Bergamin, R. S., Bordin, K. M., Picolotto, R. C., Müller, S. C. & de Bello, F., 01.07.2024, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 35, 4, 11 p., e13296.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    A systematic review of peer-reviewed gender literature in sustainability science

    Frank, E., Mühlhaus, R., Mustelin, K. M., Trilken, E. L., Kreuz, N. K., Bowes, L. C., Backer, L. M. & von Wehrden, H., 07.2024, In: Sustainability Science. 19, 4, p. 1459-1480 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  20. Published

    Die Institutionalisierung von Klimaräten durch Klimaschutzgesetzgebung

    Schatz, V., Newig, J. & Pfeffer, J., 07.2024, In: Natur und Recht. 46, 7, p. 433-442 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Embodying relationality through immersive sustainability solutions with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

    Polheim, A., Manuel-Navarrete, D., Goebel, J. & Loos, J., 07.2024, In: Sustainability Science. 19, 4, p. 1445-1457 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review