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. 2025
  2. Published

    Mostly harmless econometrics? Statistical paradigms in the ‘top five’ from 2000 to 2018

    Engler, J. O., Beeck, J. J. & von Wehrden, H., 2025, In: Journal of Economic Methodology. 32, 1, p. 14-32 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Accepted/In press

    Negotiating With Yourself and Winning: The Dual Commitment Model for Intrapersonal Sustainability Goal Conflicts

    Sevincer, A. T., Majer, J. M. & Trötschel, R., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Motivation Science.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    On-farm compost and parsley residues extract use on organic fennel crop to improve agronomic performance and environmental sustainability

    Diacono, M., Fiore, A., Di Bene, C., Farina, R., Trinchera, A., Li, J., Geelen, D., Pleissner, D., Almendinger, M., Montemurro, F. & Persiani, A., 2025, In: Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. 49, 5, p. 615-640 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Accepted/In press

    Participatory mapping of local people's values in restoration landscapes in Western Rwanda

    Ndayizeye, G., Kmoch, L., Baumann, M., Nsengimana, V., Fischer, J. & Plieninger, T., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Restoration Ecology. 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Pathways to synergize reductive with relational logics in environmental policy

    Pérez-Hämmerle, K. V., Moon, K., Raymond, C. M., Lucas, P., Hakkarainen, V. & Wood, P., 2025, In: Ecosystems and People. 21, 1, 20 p., 2529585.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Planting futures: School-based food forests and their contribution to holistic education for sustainable development

    Gobs, J., 2025, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 34, 2, p. 97-105 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Accepted/In press

    Psychological intervention in individuals with subthreshold depression: individual participant data meta-analysis of treatment effects and moderators

    Author Collaboration of "Psychological intervention in individuals with subthreshold depression: individual participant data meta-analysis of treatment effects and moderators", Harrer, M., Sprenger, A. A., Illing, S., Adriaanse, M. C., Albert, S. M., Allart, E. & Lehr, D., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: British Journal of Psychiatry. 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published
  10. Published
  11. Accepted/In press

    Responsiv-transformative Weltbeziehungen – Resonanz als Anspruch einer nachhaltigkeitsbezogenen Bildung

    Hantke, H. & Lorch, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Handbuch Resonanz. Beljan, J. (ed.).

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

  12. Accepted/In press

    Sampling and processing of climate change information and disinformation across three diverse countries

    Rahmani Azad, Z., Spampatti, T., Gluth, S., Tam, K. P. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: British Journal of Psychology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Self-consumption and self-sufficiency in energy sharing communities in Germany: What is the impact of wind energy?

    Wiesenthal, J., 2025, In: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 1532, 1, 012002.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Statistical and pluriscale analysis of educational inequalities: scientific aspirations and student performance in ENEM

    Nascimento, M., Massi, L., Moris, C. H. A. A. & Agostini, G., 2025, In: Sociologias. 27, p. e130399

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Structure and dynamics of secondary and mature rainforests: insights from South Asian long-term monitoring plots

    Murali, A., Kasinathan, S., Bhat, K., Ratnam, J., Sankaran, M., Mudappa, D., Raman, T. R. S. & Osuri, A. M., 2025, In: Plant Ecology and Diversity. 18, 1-2, p. 55-67 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published
  17. Published

    The tree growth–herbivory relationship depends on functional traits across forest biodiversity experiments

    Li, Y., Schuldt, A., Bauhus, J., Belluau, M., Berthelot, S., Burghardt, K. T., Bruelheide, H., Castagneyrol, B., Chu, C., Eisenhauer, N., Ferlian, O., Fründ, J., Gebauer, T., Gravel, D., Jactel, H., Li, S., Liang, Y., Parker, J. D., Parker, W. C., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Staab, M., Verheyen, K., Schmid, B., Ma, K. & Liu, X., 2025, In: Nature Ecology and Evolution. 9, p. 2014-2024 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Accepted/In press

    Thinking Beyond the Bargaining Table: Negotiators’ Perceptions, Behaviours and Outcomes in Negotiations Affecting External Parties

    Zhang, K., Zhang, H., Aaldering, H., Majer, J. M. & Trötschel, R., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: European Journal of Social Psychology. 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Accepted/In press

    Towards Authentic Engagement with Indigenous Peoples: Lessons from Negotiated Agreements in the Pilbara, Western Australia

    Benkert, J., Eversole, R. & Dembek, K., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Business and Society. 32 p., 00076503251376892.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Accepted/In press

    Towards self-sufficiency: a socio-technical model to identify the transition pathways to flexible prosumers and the role of policy mixes

    van der Kam, M., Lagomarsino, M., Parra, D. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Sustainability Science. 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Accepted/In press

    Umgang mit Ambiguitäten im Kontext nachhaltiger Entwicklung – Empirische Einblicke in Lehr-Lern-Prozesse von Schüler:innen

    Hantke, H., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Transformationen der Arbeit – Herausforderung für sozioökonomische Forschung, Bildung und Lehre?. Hagedorn, U. (ed.).

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