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
  3. Published

    Adaptive Planung kontextorientierten Naturwissenschaftsunterrichts

    Hüfner, S. & Abels, S., 18.03.2024, In: PFLB: PraxisForschungLehrer*innenBildung . 6, 2, p. 43-62 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesEducationpeer-review

  4. Published

    “Dann verfügen wir über Instrumente…”: Äußerungsbefugnisse von Mitgliedern der EU-Kommission

    Bartmann, E. & Kisczio, C., 18.03.2024, 3 p. Junge Wissenschaft im Öffentlichen Recht e.V.

    Research output: other publicationsArticles in scientific forums or blogsResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Gaining deep leverage? Reflecting and shaping real-world lab impacts through leverage points

    Schäpke, N., Beecroft, R., Wanner, M., Wagner, F., Rhodius, R., Laborgne, P. & Parodi, O., 16.03.2024, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 33, Supplement 1, p. 116-124 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Impacts beyond experimentation - Conceptualising emergent impacts from long-term real-world laboratory processes

    Bernert, P., Weiser, A., Kampfmann, T. & Lang, D. J., 16.03.2024, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 33, Supplement 1, p. 18-25 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Impacts of real-world labs in sustainability transformations: Forms of impacts, creation strategies, challenges, and methodological advances

    Schäpke, N., Wagner, F., Beecroft, R., Rhodius, R., Laborgne, P., Wanner, M. & Parodi, O., 16.03.2024, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 33, p. 4-9 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Impacts of urban real-world labs: Insights from a co-evaluation process informed by structuration theory in Wuppertal-Mirke

    Wanner, M., Augenstein, K., von Wirth, T. & Lang, D. J., 16.03.2024, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 33, Supplement 1, p. 102-109 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Nachhaltigkeitsprüfungen in kleinen und mittleren Kommunen: Gestaltungsoptionen für die Implementation in Kommunen

    Redenius, P., Gromball, L. E. & Heinrichs, H., 15.03.2024, Institut für Nachhaltigkeitssteuerung (INSUGO), p. 1-8, 8 p. (Schriftenreihe Nachhaltigkeit, Politik, Gesellschaft; no. 6).

    Research output: Working paperExpert opinions

  10. Published

    Effectiveness of One Videoconference-Based Exposure and Response Prevention Session at Home in Adjunction to Inpatient Treatment in Persons With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Nonrandomized Study

    Voderholzer, U., Meule, A., Koch, S., Pfeuffer, S., Anna-Lena, N., Lehr, D. & Zisler, E. M., 13.03.2024, In: JMIR Mental Health. 11, 1, 12 p., e52790.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Institutional Proxy Representatives of Future Generations: A Comparative Analysis of Types and Design Features

    Rose, M., 08.03.2024, In: Politics and Governance. 12, p. 1-21 21 p., 7745.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Change in sustainability conceptions: A mixed-methods study of undergraduates' learning processes and outcomes

    Sundermann, A., 07.03.2024, Lüneburg: Medien- und Informationszentrum, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. 215 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesDissertations

  13. Published

    Two-way NxP fertilisation experiment on barley (Hordeum vulgare) reveals shift from additive to synergistic N-P interactions at critical phosphorus fertilisation level

    Clayton, J., Lemanski, K., Solbach, M. D., Temperton, V. M. & Bonkowski, M., 05.03.2024, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 15, 12 p., 1346729.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Analysis of environmental biodegradability of cellulose-based pharmaceutical excipients in aqueous media

    Bading, M., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 01.03.2024, In: Chemosphere. 352, 8 p., 141298.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    An archetype analysis of sustainability innovations in Biosphere Reserves: Insights for assessing transformative potential

    Dabard, C. H., Mann, C. & Martín-López, B., 01.03.2024, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 153, 25 p., 103674.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Assessing collaboration, knowledge exchange, and stakeholder agency in coastal governance to enhance climate resilience

    Rölfer, L., Celliers, L., Fernandes, M., Rivers, N., Snow, B. & Abson, D. J., 01.03.2024, In: Regional Environmental Change. 24, 1, 15 p., 6.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    A trainable object finder, selector and identifier for pollen, spores and other things: A step towards automated pollen recognition in lake sediments

    Theuerkauf, M., Siradze, N. & Gillert, A., 01.03.2024, In: Holocene. 34, 3, p. 297-305 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Canopy structure influences arthropod communities within and beyond tree identity effects: Insights from combining LiDAR data, insecticidal fogging and machine learning regression modelling

    Wildermuth, B., Penanhoat, A., Sennhenn-Reulen, H., Matevski, D., Drescher, J., Aubry-Kientz, M., Seidel, D. & Schuldt, A., 01.03.2024, In: Ecological Indicators. 160, 12 p., 111901.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Improving the representation of smallholder farmers’ adaptive behaviour in agent-based models: Learning-by-doing and social learning

    Apetrei, C. I., Strelkovskii, N., Khabarov, N. & Javalera Rincón, V., 01.03.2024, In: Ecological Modelling. 489, 18 p., 110609.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    ReSurveyEurope: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

    ReSurveyEurope, Knollová, I., Chytrý, M., Bruelheide, H., Dullinger, S., Haider, S. & Härdtle, W., 01.03.2024, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 35, 2, 18 p., e13235.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    A trait-based framework linking the soil metabolome to plant–soil feedbacks

    Delory, B. M., Callaway, R. M. & Semchenko, M., 03.2024, In: New Phytologist. 241, 5, p. 1910-1921 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review