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. 2025
  2. Accepted/In press

    ‘Chains of leverage’ as way to identify and foster transformative potential

    Riechers, M., Schaal-Lagodzinski, T., Pereira, L., Loos, J. & Fischer, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: People and Nature. 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Accepted/In press

    Conceptualizing transformative climate action: insights from sufficiency research

    Richard, B., Nathan, B., Andreas, N. & Ernest, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Climate Policy. 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Accepted/In press

    Digitale Gesundheitskompetenz an Schulen. Entwicklung eines Selbstbewertungsinstruments zur Erfassung organisationaler Bedingungen

    Hartmann, A., Fischer, L., Rangnow, P., Stauch, L., Renninger, D., Okan, O. & Dadaczynski, K., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Pravention und Gesundheitsforderung.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Accepted/In press

    Disentangling the influence of environmental conditions on sex determination in haplodiploid organisms

    Wittmann, K., Klein, A. M., Pichler, M. & Staab, M., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Animal Ecology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Accepted/In press

    Empowering Change: A Self-Control Perspective on How Choice Architecture Interventions Can Promote Sustainable Behavior Change

    Engel, L., Kukowski, C. A. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Motivation Science.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Accepted/In press

    Enhancing public participation through social learning and local identity: the case of climate adaptation in small and medium sized municipalities

    Reifenstahl, T., Augenstein, K. & Möller, S., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Ground beetle fauna of flower strips and forest edges in northern German lowlands’ conventional agricultural landscapes (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

    Grabener, S., Boutaud, E., Drees, C., Gürlich, S., Härdtle, W., Husemann, L., Kubiak, M., Laschke, C. J., Remmers, S., Zumstein, P. & Assmann, T., 2025, In: Biodiversity Data Journal. 13, e161282.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Accepted/In press

    Habitat and land-use intensity shape moth community structure across temperate forest and grassland

    Achury, R., Staab, M., Seibold, S., Müller, J., Heidrich, L., Püls, M., Hacker, H., Fonseca, C. R., Fischer, M., Blüthgen, N. & Weisser, W., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Animal Ecology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published
  11. Published

    Implementation of Vocational Education and Training for Sustainable Development Through Cooperation Between Research and Practice

    Hantsch, R. & Hantke, H., 2025, Education for Sustainable Development: The Contribution of Universities. Leal Filho, W., Trevisan, L. V., Pace, P. J. & Mifsud, M. (eds.). Cham: Springer Nature, p. 161-175

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

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Internationalisierung von E-Commerce-Geschäften
  2. Mehr Gender in den Greenstream?!
  3. GeR/GeRS (Gemeinsamer europäischer Referenzrahmen für Sprachen)
  4. Politische Strategie
  5. Socio-cultural valuation of ecosystem services
  6. Energiewende Erst reden, dann roden!
  7. Dual Reality: ( Un)Observed Magic in the Workplace
  8. Relationships between climate, productivity and vegetation in southern mongolian drylands
  9. On the Origins of the Anthropological Machine
  10. Special Issue: Weimar Photography: Bauhaus, Cultural Difference, Exile: Part 1
  11. Die Evaluation von Mündlichkeit
  12. Organizing Counterpublics: Scenes from Contemporary Russia
  13. Piketty und die Rechtswissenschaft im 21. Jahrhundert
  14. International Generalizability of Expatriate Success Project (iGOES)
  15. Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement
  16. Umweltbezogene Studienangebote -
  17. Health literacy and mental well-being of school staff in times of crisis
  18. Alphabetische Strategie
  19. Wagnis Zukunft: Braucht Vertrauen Transparenz?
  20. Derridas Doppelzüngigkeit. Zur Übersetzbarkeit von Schlangenwendungen
  21. »Freihandel und Investitionen auf fremden Märkten«
  22. Mathematical Literacy von Erwachsenen
  23. 7. Socio-Cultural and Religious Views on Prenatal Diagnosis in Israel and Germany
  24. Socio-economic analysis for the authorisation of chemicals under REACH
  25. Untergrundbewußtsein
  26. Von der Herrschaft der Technik zum Parlament der Dinge
  27. Basic Cost Accounting Terminology: An English-German Dictionary
  28. Führt die Neuordnung der Berufsaufsicht und externen Qualitätskontrolle der Wirtschaftsprüfer nach dem APAReG zu einer erhöhten Prüfungsqualität?
  29. Conserving the World's Finest Grassland Amidst Ambitious National Development
  30. Artikel 40 EUV [Kompetenzabgrenzung]
  31. Quelques considérations sur la fonction et la théorie du coup d'Ètat
  32. Schulinspektion - Fluch und Segen externer Evaluation
  33. Sustainable forest management augments diversity of vascular plants in German forests