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. 2020
  2. Published

    Barley shoot biomass responds strongly to N:P stoichiometry and intraspecific competition, whereas roots only alter their foraging

    Kumar, A., van Duijnen, R., Delory, B., Reichel, R., Brüggemann, N. & Temperton, V. M., 01.08.2020, In: Plant and Soil. 453, 1-2, p. 515-528 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Ensuring tests of conservation interventions build on existing literature

    Sutherland, W. J., Alvarez-Castañeda, S. T., Amano, T., Ambrosini, R., Atkinson, P., Baxter, J. M., Bond, A. L., Boon, P. J., Buchanan, K. L., Barlow, J., Bogliani, G., Bragg, O. M., Burgman, M., Cadotte, M. W., Calver, M., Cooke, S. J., Corlett, R. T., Devictor, V., Ewen, J. G., Fisher, M., Freeman, G., Game, E., Godley, B. J., Gortázar, C., Hartley, I. R., Hawksworth, D. L., Hobson, K. A., Lu, M. L., Martín-López, B., Ma, K., Machado, A., Maes, D., Mangiacotti, M., McCafferty, D. J., Melfi, V., Molur, S., Moore, A. J., Murphy, S. D., Norris, D., van Oudenhoven, A. P. E., Powers, J., Rees, E. C., Schwartz, M. W., Storch, I. & Wordley, C., 01.08.2020, In: Conservation Biology. 34, 4, p. 781-783 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  4. Published

    Temporal patterns in ecosystem services research: A review and three recommendations

    Rau, A.-L., Burkhardt, V., Dorninger, C., Hjort, C., Ibe, K., Keßler, L., Kristensen, J. A., McRobert, A., Sidemo-Holm, W., Zimmermann, H., Abson, D., Wehrden, H. & Ekroos, J., 01.08.2020, In: Ambio. 49, 8, p. 1377-1393 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  5. Published

    Aportes de la agrobiodiversidad a la sustentabilidad de la agricultura familiar en Colombia

    Acevedo Osorio, Á., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S. & Ortiz-Pinilla, J., 08.2020, In: Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems. 23, 2, 18 p., 35.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Recent developments in microalgal conversion of organic-enriched waste streams

    Solovchenko, A., Lukyanov, A., Aswathanarayana, R. G., Pleissner, D. & Ambati, R. R., 08.2020, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 24, p. 61-66 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenzen und Inklusion – Inklusion durch Kompetenzorientierung?

    Abels, S., 24.07.2020, Naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenzen in der Gesellschaft von morgen. : Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Chemie und Physik, Jahrestagung in Wien 2019. Habig, S. (ed.). Essen: Universität Duisburg-Essen, p. 20-29 10 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsTransfer

  8. Published

    Neue Formate transdisziplinärer Forschung: Ausdifferenzierte Brücken zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis

    Grunwald, A., Schäfer, M. & Bergmann, M., 22.07.2020, In: GAIA. 29, 2, p. 106-114 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Design rules for environmental biodegradability of phenylalanine alkyl ester linked ionic liquids

    Suk, M., Haiß, A., Westphal, J., Jordan, A., Kellett, A., Kapitanov, I. V., Karpichev, Y., Gathergood, N. & Kümmerer, K., 21.07.2020, In: Green Chemistry . 22, 14, p. 4498-4508 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Transformative learning in the field of sustainability: a systematic literature review (1999-2019)

    Rodriguez Aboytes, J. G. & Barth, M., 17.07.2020, In: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 21, 5, p. 993-1013 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  11. Published

    Farmers’ perceptions and knowledge of natural enemies as providers of biological control in cider apple orchards

    Martínez-Sastre, R., García, D., Miñarro, M. & Martín-López, B., 15.07.2020, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 266, 11 p., 110589.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Climate Change Litigation: German Family Farmers and Urgenda - Similar Cases, Differing Judgments

    Schomerus, T., 10.07.2020, In: Journal for European Environmental & Planning Law. 17, 3, p. 322-332 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published
  14. Published

    “A Future to Believe in”: Introducing Varieties of Advocacy Journalism. The Examples Sustainability and the Sanders Campaign

    Laws, N. & Chojnicka, J., 03.07.2020, In: Journalism Studies. 21, 9, p. 1261-1283 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Designing a Transformative Epistemology of the Problematic: A Perspective for Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research

    Meyer, E. & Peukert, D., 03.07.2020, In: Social Epistemology. 34, 4, p. 346-356 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Knowledge Decolonization à la Grounded Theory: Control Juggling in Research Situations

    Eguia Huerta, M., 03.07.2020, In: Social Epistemology. 34, 4, p. 370-381 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Social and Epistemic Control in Collaborative Research — Reconfiguring the Interplay of Politics and Methodology

    Herberg, J. & Vilsmaier, U., 03.07.2020, In: Social Epistemology. 34, 4, p. 309-318 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    The Emerging Research Field of Experimentation for Circular Business Model Innovation

    Bocken, N. M. P., Weissbrod, I. & Antikainen, M., 02.07.2020, 5th International Online Conference on New Business Models: Sustainable. Circular. Inclusive. 1-2 July 2020. Conference Proceedings: Book of Abstracts. Jonker, J. & Faber, N. (eds.). Nijmegen: Radboud University Nijmegen, p. 106-110 5 p.

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

  19. Published

    Artful sustainability governance—Foundational considerations on sensory-informed policymaking for sustainable development

    Heinrichs, H., 01.07.2020, In: Sustainable Development. 28, 4, p. 791-799 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Biosphere reserves' management effectiveness-A systematic literature review and a research agenda

    Ferreira, A. F., Zimmermann, H., Santos, R. & von Wehrden, H., 01.07.2020, In: Sustainability. 12, 12, 31 p., 5497.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  21. Published

    Deconstructing a 2-year long transdisciplinary sustainability project in Northern universities: is rhetorical nobility obscuring procedural and political discords?

    Ghosh, A., 01.07.2020, In: Sustainability Science. 15, 4, p. 1111-1127 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review