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. 2016
  2. Published

    Thinking about climate change: Young people from Ladakh responding to global warming: An explorative study

    Getzin, S., 13.01.2016, Exploring Alterity in a Globalized World. Wulf, C. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 454-467 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  3. Published

    Transnational governance towards sustainable biofuels: Exploring a polycentric view

    Moser, C. & Bailis, R., 13.01.2016, Environmental Politics and Governance in the Anthropocene: Institutions and legitimacy in a complex world. Pattberg, P. & Zelli, F. (eds.). London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 103-126 24 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  4. Published

    How do rhizobacterial volatiles influence root system architecture, biomass production and allocation of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon?

    Delaplace, P., Ormeno-Lafuente, E., Nguyen, M., Delory, B., Baudson, C., Mendaluk - Saunier de Cazenave, M., Spaepen, S., Varin, S., Brostaux, Y. & du Jardin, P., 12.01.2016, 24th Plant & Animal Genome Conference, Brachypodium Genomics Workshop. Scherago International, 1 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksPublished abstract in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Globalization’s limits to the environmental state? Integrating telecoupling into global environmental governance

    Lenschow, A., Newig, J. & Challies, E., 02.01.2016, In: Environmental Politics. 25, 1, p. 136-159 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Transdisciplinarity in a messy world

    Fischer, J., 02.01.2016, Lüneburg

    Research output: other publicationsArticles in scientific forums or blogsResearch

  7. Published

    100 key research questions for the post-2015 development agenda

    Oldekop, J. A., Fontana, L. B., Grugel, J., Roughton, N., Adu-Ampong, E. A., Bird, G. K., Dorgan, A., Vera Espinoza, M. A., Wallin, S., Hammett, D., Agbarakwe, E., Agrawal, A., Asylbekova, N., Azkoul, C., Bardsley, C., Bebbington, A. J., Carvalho, S., Chopra, D., Christopoulos, S., Crewe, E., Dop, M. C., Fischer, J., Gerretsen, D., Glennie, J., Gois, W., Gondwe, M., Harrison, L. A., Hujo, K., Keen, M., Laserna, R., Miggiano, L., Mistry, S., Morgan, R. J., Raftree, L. L., Rhind, D., Rodrigues, T., Roschnik, S., Senkubuge, F., Thornton, I., Trace, S., Ore, T., Valdés, R. M., Vira, B., Yeates, N. & Sutherland, W. J., 01.01.2016, In: Development Policy Review. 34, 1, p. 55-82 28 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    An idea and a person whose time had come: How Albert Schweitzer became a postwar icon

    Oermann, N. O., Thate, M. J. & Widmann, E., 01.01.2016, Albert Schweitzer in Thought and Action: A Life in Parts. Carleton-Paget, J. & Thate, M. J. (eds.). Syracuse University Press, p. 319-329 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  9. Published

    An integrative analysis of energy transitions in energy regions: A case study of ökoEnergieland in Austria

    Hecher, M., Vilsmaier, U., Akhavan, R. & Binder, C. R., 01.01.2016, In: Ecological Economics. 121 , Januar 2016, p. 40-53 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    BaWü-labs on their way: Progress of real-world laboratories in Baden-Württemberg

    Wagner, F., Schäpke, N., Bergmann, M., Lang, D. J. & Stelzer, F., 01.01.2016, In: GAIA. 25, 3, p. 220-221 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Cascades of green: A review of ecosystem-based adaptation in urban areas

    Brink, E., Aalders, T., Ádám, D., Feller, R., Henselek, Y., Hoffmann, A., Ibe, K., Matthey-Doret, A., Meyer, M., Negrut, N. L., Rau, A. L., Riewerts, B., von Schuckmann, L., Törnros, S., von Wehrden, H., Abson, D. J. & Wamsler, C., 01.01.2016, In: Global Environmental Change : Human and Policy Dimensions. 36, p. 111-123 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Cities are hotspots for threatened species

    Ives, C. D., Lentini, P. E., Threlfall, C. G., Ikin, K., Shanahan, D. F., Garrard, G. E., Bekessy, S. A., Fuller, R. A., Mumaw, L., Rayner, L., Rowe, R., Valentine, L. E. & Kendal, D., 01.01.2016, In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 25, 1, p. 117-126 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Climate Conflicts: A case of international environmental and humanitarian law

    Christiansen, S. M., 01.01.2016, 1 ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG. 245 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Decentralized utilization of wasted organic material in urban areas: A case study in Hong Kong

    Pleissner, D., 01.01.2016, In: Ecological Engineering. 86, p. 120-125 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Decision Support Through Carbon Management Accounting - A Framework-Based Literature Review

    Zvezdov, D. & Schaltegger, S., 01.01.2016, Corporate Carbon and Climate Accounting. Schaltegger, S., Zvezdov, D., Alvarez Etxeberria, I. & Günther, E. (eds.). Cham: Springer, p. 27-44 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  16. Published

    Degradation of cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil by UV and simulated sunlight treatments: Assessment of the enhancement of the biodegradability and toxicity

    Lutterbeck, C. A., Wilde, M. L., Baginska, E., Leder, C., Machado, Ê. L. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2016, In: Environmental Pollution. 208, Part B, p. 467-476 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Disentangling trade-offs and synergies around ecosystem services with the influence network framework: Illustration from a consultative process over the French Alps

    Crouzat, E., Martín-López, B., Turkelboom, F. & Lavorel, S., 01.01.2016, In: Ecology and Society. 21, 2, 18 p., 32.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Ecosystem services values in Spain: A meta-analysis

    Quintas-Soriano, C., Martín-López, B., Santos-Martín, F., Loureiro, M., Montes, C., Benayas, J. & García-Llorente, M., 01.01.2016, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 55, p. 186-195 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published
  20. Published

    How does the context and design of participatory decision making processes affect their outcomes? Evidence from sustainable land management in global drylands

    de Vente, J., Reed, M. S., Stringer, L. C., Valente, S. & Newig, J., 01.01.2016, In: Ecology and Society. 21, 2, 24 p., 24.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Marginal Calluna populations are more resistant to climate change, but not under high-nitrogen loads

    Meyer-Grünefeldt, M., Belz, K., Calvo, L., Marcos, E., Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 01.01.2016, In: Plant Ecology. 217, 1, p. 111-122 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review