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. 2018
  2. Published

    Using social media photos to explore the relation between cultural ecosystem services and landscape features across five European sites

    Oteros-Rozas, E., Martín-López, B., Fagerholm, N., Bieling, C. & Plieninger, T., 11.2018, In: Ecological Indicators. 94, Part 2, p. 74-86 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    DECODING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO PROBLEMATIZE COMPLEX CONCEPTS

    Fischer, M., 26.10.2018, In: RISUS-JOURNAL ON INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY. 9, 3, p. 149-159 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Social capital, resource constraints and low growth communities: Lifestyle entrepreneurs in Nicaragua

    Klapper, R., Upham, P. & Kurronen, K., 22.10.2018, In: Sustainability. 10, 10, 3813.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Embedding higher education into a Real-World Lab: A process-oriented analysis of Six Transdisciplinary Project Courses

    Beecroft, R., 20.10.2018, In: Sustainability. 10, 10, 3798.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The Project Schöningen from an ecological and cultural perspective

    Serangeli, J., Rodríguez-Álvarez, B., Tucci, M., Verheijen, I., Bigga, G., Böhner, U., Urban, B., van Kolfschoten, T. & Conard, N. J., 15.10.2018, In: Quaternary Science Reviews. 198, p. 140-155 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A Social–Ecological Systems Framework as a Tool for Understanding the Effectiveness of Biosphere Reserve Management

    Ferreira, A. F., Zimmermann, H., Santos, R. & Wehrden, H., 10.10.2018, In: Sustainability. 10, 10, 26 p., 3608.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Collaborative energy visioning under conditions of illiberal democracy: Results and recommendations from Ecuador

    Noboa, E., Upham, P. J. & Heinrichs, H., 08.10.2018, In: Energy, Sustainability and Society. 8, 1, 17 p., 31.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Impacts of species richness on productivity in a large-scale subtropical forest experiment

    Huang, Y., Chen, Y., Castro-Izaguirre, N., Baruffol, M., Brezzi, M., Lang, A., Li, Y., Härdtle, W., Von Oheimb, G., Yang, X., Liu, X., Pei, K., Both, S., Yang, B., Eichenberg, D., Assmann, T., Bauhus, J., Behrens, T., Buscot, F., Chen, X. Y., Chesters, D., Ding, B. Y., Durka, W., Erfmeier, A., Fang, J., Fischer, M., Guo, L. D., Guo, D., Gutknecht, J. L. M., He, J. S., He, C.-L., Hector, A., Hönig, L., Hu, R. Y., Klein, A. M., Kühn, P., Liang, Y., Li, S., Michalski, S., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schmidt, K., Scholten, T., Schuldt, A., Shi, X., Tan, M. Z., Tang, Z., Trogisch, S., Wang, Z., Welk, E., Wirth, C., Wubet, T., Xiang, W., Yu, M., Yu, X.-D., Zhang, J., Zhang, S., Zhang, N., Zhou, H.-Z., Zhu, C.-D., Zhu, L., Bruelheide, H., Ma, K., Niklaus, P. A. & Schmid, B., 05.10.2018, In: Science. 362, 6410, p. 80-83 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Mindfulness training at school: A way to engage adolescents with sustainable consumption?

    Böhme, T., Stanszus, L. S., Geiger, S. M., Fischer, D. & Schrader, U., 04.10.2018, In: Sustainability. 10, 10, 22 p., 3557.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Reduced nitrate leaching from an Irish cropland soil under non-inversion tillage with cover cropping greatly outweighs increased dissolved organic nitrogen leaching

    Walmsley, D. C., Siemens, J., Kindler, R., Kaiser, K., Saunders, M., Fichtner, A., Kaupenjohann, M. & Osborne, B. A., 01.10.2018, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 265, p. 340-349 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Usability and naturalness of videoconference-based exposure and response prevention for obsessive- compulsive disorder at the patients' homes: A pilot study

    Netter, A. L., Hessler, J. B., Diedrich, A., Lehr, D., Berking, M., Pfeuffer, S. & Voderholzer, U., 01.10.2018, In: Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy. 32, 4, p. 303-314 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    A comprehensive assessment of ecosystem services: Integrating supply, demand and interest in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve

    Castillo-Eguskitza, N., Martín-López, B. & Onaindia, M., 10.2018, In: Ecological Indicators. 93, p. 1176-1189 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Recycling and reuse of food waste

    Pleißner, D., 10.2018, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 13, October 2018, p. 39-43 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  15. Published

    Technical and economic assessment of food waste valorization through a biorefinery chain

    Demichelis, F., Fiore, S., Pleißner, D. & Venus, J., 10.2018, In: Renewable & Sustainble Energy Reviews. 94, p. 38-48 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Sustainability Management Software

    Kern, E., Silva, S. L. & Guldner, A., 19.09.2018, In: Technologies. 6, 3, 15 p., 88.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    The new spirit of capitalism in European Liberal Arts programs*

    Claus, J., Meckel, T. & Pätz, F., 19.09.2018, In: Educational Philosophy and Theory. 50, 11, p. 1011-1019 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Setting the research agenda for measuring sustainability performance: systematic application of the world café method

    Silva, S. L. & Günther, E., 18.09.2018, In: Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. 9, 4, p. 455-469 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  19. Published

    How can sustainable chemistry contribute to a circular economy?

    Pleißner, D., 06.09.2018, In: Detritus - Multidisciplinary Journal for Waste Resource & Residues. 3, September, p. 4-6 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Harnessing place attachment for local climate mitigation? Hypothesising connections between broadening representations of place and readiness for change

    Upham, P., Johansen, K., Bögel, P. M., Axon, S., Garard, J. & Carney, S., 02.09.2018, In: Local Environment. 23, 9, p. 912-919 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  21. Published

    From disagreements to dialogue: unpacking the Golden Rice debate

    Kettenburg, A. J., Hanspach, J., Abson, D. J. & Fischer, J., 01.09.2018, In: Sustainability Science. 13, 5, p. 1469-1482 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch