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. 2021
  2. Published

    What are social- ecological systems and social-ecological systems research?

    Biggs, R., Clements, H., de Vos, A., Folke, C., Manyani, A., Maciejewski, K., Martín-López, B., Preiser, R., Selomane, O. & Schlüter, M., 30.07.2021, The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods for Social-Ecological Systems. Biggs, R., de Vos, A., Preiser, R., Clements, H., Maciejewski, K. & Schlüter, M. (eds.). London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 3-26 24 p. (Routledge international handbooks).

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

  3. Published

    A social-ecological assessment of food security and biodiversity conservation in Ethiopia

    Fischer, J., Bergsten, A., Dorresteijn, I., Hanspach, J., Hylander, K., Jiren, T. S., Manlosa, A. O., Rodrigues, P., Schultner, J., Senbeta, F. & Shumi, G., 28.07.2021, In: Ecosystems and People. 17, 1, p. 400-410 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Negotiation complexity: a review and an integrative model

    Zhang, H., Zhang, K., Warsitzka, M. & Trötschel, R., 27.07.2021, In: International Journal of Conflict Management. 32, 4, p. 554-573 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Connecting consumers to producers to foster sustainable consumption in international coffee supply – a marketing intervention study

    Weber, H., Loschelder, D. D., Lang, D. J. & Wiek, A., 24.07.2021, In: Journal of Marketing Management. 37, 11-12, p. 1148-1168 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Die Krise in der Krise. Sozial-ökologische Perspektiven auf Zuschreibungen, Bestätigungen und Verluste des ‚Reproduktiven’ in Zeiten von ‚Corona’

    Mölders, T. & Hofmeister, S., 21.07.2021, In: Gender. 13, 2, p. 48-63 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Towards the design of active pharmaceutical ingredients mineralizing readily in the environment

    Puhlmann, N., Mols, R., Olsson, O., Slootweg, J. C. & Kümmerer, K., 21.07.2021, In: Green Chemistry . 23, 14, p. 5006-5023 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Reducing Environmental Pollution by Antibiotics through Design for Environmental Degradation

    Leder, C., Suk, M., Lorenz, S., Rastogi, T., Pfeifer, C., Kietzmann, M., Jonas, D., Buck, M., Pahl, A. & Kümmerer, K., 19.07.2021, In: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 9, 28, p. 9358–9368 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Theorising individual agency within sociotechnical sustainability transitions frames: A social psychological review

    Upham, P., Bögel, P., Klapper, R. G. & Kašperová, E., 16.07.2021, Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency . Teerikangas, S., Onlika, T., Koistinen, K. & Mäkelä, M. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 29-45 17 p.

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

  10. Published

    Cooperating With “Open Cards”—The Role of Small Intermediary Businesses in Realizing Sustainable International Coffee Supply

    Weber, H. & Wiek, A., 15.07.2021, In: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 5, 14 p., 663716.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Crisis-induced disruptions in place-based social-ecological research - an opportunity for redirection

    Hermans, K., Berger, E., Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bossenbroek, L., Ebeler, L., Groth, J., Hack, J., Hanspach, J., Hintz, K. S., Kimengsi, J. N., Kwong, Y. M. C., Oakes, R., Pagogna, R., Plieninger, T., Sterly, H., van der Geest, K., van Vliet, J. & Wiederkehr, C., 15.07.2021, In: GAIA. 30, 2, p. 72-76 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  12. Published

    Food forests: Their services and sustainability

    Albrecht, S. & Wiek, A., 10.07.2021, In: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development . 10, 3, p. 91-105 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Influence of altitude and longitude on vegetation in the dzungarian gobi and the south-western mongolian altai

    Chuluunkhuyag, O., Chaoyan, L., Treiber, J., Batlai, O., von Wehrden, H., Feller, R. & Wesche, K., 08.07.2021, In: Phytocoenologia. 50, 4, p. 339-369 31 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published
  15. Published

    Planung naturbasierter Lösungen in Flusslandschaften: Ein Handbuch für die Praxis

    Schröter, B., Brillinger, M., Gottwald, S., Guerrero, P., Henze, J., Ott, E., Schmidt, S. & Albert, C., 01.07.2021, 1 ed. München: oekom verlag GmbH. 117 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  16. Published

    The effect of industrialization and globalization on domestic land-use: A global resource footprint perspective

    Dorninger, C., von Wehrden, H., Krausmann, F., Bruckner, M., Feng, K., Hubacek, K., Erb, K. H. & Abson, D. J., 01.07.2021, In: Global Environmental Change. 69, 21 p., 102311.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Aquatic and terrestrial proxy evidence for Middle Pleistocene palaeolake and lake-shore development at two Lower Palaeolithic sites of Schöningen, Germany

    Krahn, K. J., Tucci, M., Urban, B., Pilgrim, J., Frenzel, P., Soulié-Märsche, I. & Schwalb, A., 07.2021, In: Boreas. 50, 3, p. 723-745 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Local and landscape responses of biodiversity in calcareous grasslands

    Loos, J., Krauss, J., Lyons, A., Föst, S., Ohlendorf, C., Racky, S., Röder, M., Hudel, L., Herfert, V. & Tscharntke, T., 07.2021, In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 30, 8-9, p. 2415-2432 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    “Plantas que toda la vida han estado”: una co-investigación alrededor de la cocina y las relaciones bioculturales asociadas a plantas alimenticias locales en la ruralidad de Bogotá

    Consuegra, C., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Cely-Santos, M., van der Hammen, M. C. & Pérez, D., 07.2021, In: Revista de Antropología y Sociología: Virajes. 23, 2, p. 163-185 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published
  21. Published

    Sustainability in Business: Integrated Management of Value Creation and Disvalue Mitigation

    Beckmann, M. & Schaltegger, S., 28.06.2021, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Aldag, R. J. (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 24 p. (Oxford Research Encyclopedias).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaResearch