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

    Contextualising urban experimentation: Analysing the utopiastadt campus case with the theory of strategic action fields

    Wanner, M., Bachmann, B. & Von Wirth, T., 26.03.2021, In: Urban Planning. 6, 1, p. 235-248 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Materials and Energy Accounting

    Burritt, R., Christ, K. & Schaltegger, S., 31.03.2021, Routledge Handbook of Environmental Accounting. Bebbington, J., Larrinaga, C., O'Dwyer, B. & Thomson, I. (eds.). London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 207-223 17 p.

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

  4. Published

    Urban storm water infiltration systems are not reliable sinks for biocides: evidence from column experiments

    Bork, M., Lange, J., Graf-Rosenfellner, M., Hensen, B., Olsson, O., Hartung, T., Fernández-Pascual, E. & Lang, F., 31.03.2021, In: Scientific Reports. 11, 1, 12 p., 7242.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    A systematic literature review of crowdfunding and sustainability: highlighting what really matters

    Böckel, A., Hörisch, J. & Tenner, I. M., 04.2021, In: Management Review Quarterly. 71, 2, p. 433-453 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Governance Challenges at the Interface of Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation: A Multi-Level Case Study from Ethiopia

    Jiren, T. S., Leventon, J., Jager, N. W., Dorresteijn, I., Schultner, J., Senbeta, F., Bergsten, A. & Fischer, J., 04.2021, In: Environmental Management. 67, 4, p. 717-730 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Soil chemical legacies trigger species-specific and context-dependent root responses in later arriving plants

    Delory, B. M., Schempp, H., Spachmann, S. M., Störzer, L., van Dam, N. M., Temperton, V. M. & Weinhold, A., 04.2021, In: Plant, Cell and Environment. 44, 4, p. 1215-1230 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    A change of values is in the air

    Fischer, J., 01.04.2021, In: Nature Sustainability. 4, 4, p. 292-293 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  9. Published

    Contextualizing certification and auditing: Soy certification and access of local communities to land and water in Brazil

    Schilling-Vacaflor, A., Lenschow, A., Challies, E., Cotta, B. & Newig, J., 01.04.2021, In: World Development. 140, 12 p., 105281.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Controller als Partner im Nachhaltigkeits-Management

    Petersen, H., Lühn, M., Nuzum, A.-K., Schaltegger, S. & Wenzig, J., 01.04.2021, In: Controlling & Management Review. 65, 3, p. 8-15 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Corridors as a tool for linking habitats – Shortcomings and perspectives for plant conservation

    Travers, E., Härdtle, W. & Matthies, D., 01.04.2021, In: Journal for Nature Conservation. 60, 125974.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review