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

    Mycorrhizal type and tree diversity affect foliar elemental pools and stoichiometry

    Bönisch, E., Blagodatskaya, E., Dirzo, R., Ferlian, O., Fichtner, A., Huang, Y., Leonard, S. J., Maestre, F. T., von Oheimb, G., Ray, T. & Eisenhauer, N., 05.2024, In: New Phytologist. 242, 4, p. 1614-1629 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Tree and mycorrhizal fungal diversity drive intraspecific and intraindividual trait variation in temperate forests: Evidence from a tree diversity experiment

    Castro Sánchez-Bermejo, P., Monjau, T., Goldmann, K., Ferlian, O., Eisenhauer, N., Bruelheide, H., Ma, Z. & Haider, S., 05.2024, In: Functional Ecology. 38, 5, p. 1089-1103 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Sustainability management accounting – enabling macro-level sustainability transformation towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

    Christ, K. L., Dijkstra-Silva, S., Burritt, R. & Schaltegger, S., 25.04.2024, In: Meditari Accountancy Research. 32, 3, p. 923-944 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Effectiveness of an online recovery training for employees exposed to blurred boundaries between work and non-work: Bayesian analysis of a randomised controlled trial

    Brückner, H., Wallot, S., Horvath, H., Ebert, D. D. & Lehr, D., 19.04.2024, In: BMJ mental health. 27, 1, 7 p., e301016.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    How data on transformation products can support the redesign of sulfonamides towards better biodegradability in the environment

    Puhlmann, N., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 15.04.2024, In: Science of the Total Environment. 921, 13 p., 171027.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    “First come, first served" or “the more, the merrier"? Organizational dynamics of citizen-led solar initiatives and the presence of photovoltaic installations in Germany

    Mueller, L., Marcroft, T. P., von Beck, C., Zeiss, J. P., Schwanitz, V. J., Wierling, A. & Holstenkamp, L., 10.04.2024, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 449, 11 p., 141861.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    § 22 Level Playing Field and Sustainable Development

    Bäumler, J., 05.04.2024, EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: A Handbook. Kübek, G., Tams, C. J. & Terhechte, J. P. (eds.). Baden Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, p. 359-380 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesTransfer

  10. Published

    Wie genau die Welt retten? Denkanstöße zum Club-of-Rome-Bericht "EARTH FOR ALL"

    Lietzke-Prinz, I. (Editor) & Farny, S. (Editor), 04.04.2024, München: oekom verlag GmbH. 228 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  11. Published

    15 years of degrowth research: A systematic review

    Engler, J. O., Kretschmer, M. F., Rathgens, J., Ament, J. A., Huth, T. & von Wehrden, H., 01.04.2024, In: Ecological Economics. 218, 14 p., 108101.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review