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. Published

    Political embedding of climate assemblies. How effective strategies for policy impact depend on context

    Pfeffer, J. & Newig, J., 01.02.2025, In: Environmental Science and Policy. 164, 11 p., 103993.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Datenschutz als Werkzeug zur Antidiskriminierung

    Bartmann, E. & Godau, L.-T., 06.02.2025, Junge Wissenschaft im Öffentlichen Recht e.V.

    Research output: other publicationsArticles in scientific forums or blogsResearchpeer-review

  4. E-pub ahead of print

    Social perceptions of carnivores across the globe – a literature review

    Newsom, A., Lozano, J. & Martín-López, B., 09.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Human Dimensions of Wildlife. 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Green Extraction and NMR Analysis of Bioactives from Orange Juice Waste

    Penteado, P. S., Leal, M. C. B. D. M., Carosio, M. G. A., dos Santos, A., Segatto, M. L., Pavarini, D. P., da Silva, D. F., Amaral, J. C., da Silva, M. F. D. G. F., Zuin Zeidler, V. G. & Ferreira, A. G., 14.02.2025, In: Foods. 14, 4, 14 p., 642.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Accelerating the industrial transition with safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD)

    Soeteman-Hernández, L. G., Tickner, J. A., Dierckx, A., Kümmerer, K., Apel, C. & Strömberg, E., 17.02.2025, In: RSC Sustainability. 3, 5, p. 2185-2191 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Key learnings from integrating sustainability in european higher education institutions: The value of networks and reflective leadership

    Weiss, M., Mulà, I., Zimmermann, A. B. & Diethart, M., 20.02.2025, The Routledge Handbook of Global Sustainability Education and Thinking for the 21st Century. John, M. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 918-933 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    Promoting diversity of thought: bridging knowledge systems for a pluriverse approach to research

    Bülow, F., 25.02.2025, In: Earth Science, Systems and Society. 2025, 5

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. E-pub ahead of print

    The Role of Individual Beliefs for Corporate Sustainability Transformations

    Buhr, M. & Weissbrod, I., 28.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility. 27 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Alcohol use and drinking motives across five countries: a post-COVID-19 pandemic update

    Rupprecht, J., Spitzweck, B., Oettingen, G. & Sevincer, A. T., 03.2025, In: American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. 51, 1, p. 85-95 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Bettina Ohse

Publications

  1. Relationships between climate, productivity and vegetation in southern mongolian drylands
  2. Diagnosen der Moderne
  3. Special Issue: Weimar Photography: Bauhaus, Cultural Difference, Exile: Part 1
  4. Zukunftslabor Produktion
  5. Die Evaluation von Mündlichkeit
  6. Zur Integration von Wissenschaft und Praxis als Forschungsmodus
  7. Hin zu mehr sozialer Netzwerkverantwortlichkeit in der globalen Bekleidungsindustrie
  8. Derridas Doppelzüngigkeit. Zur Übersetzbarkeit von Schlangenwendungen
  9. Parlamentarismus
  10. The tyranny of coarse scales in sustainability science and policy
  11. Kulturpolitik und Digitalität
  12. Der Traum vom „besseren“ Menschen
  13. Bildungskooperation international
  14. Verantwortung für historisches Unrecht
  15. Triathlon - ein Wechsel zwischen Disziplinen als Inhalt eines variablen Kinderleichtathletiktrainings
  16. Ausgefüllt, ausgewertet und abgelegt?
  17. Settingbasierte Gesundheitsförderung und Prävention in Deutschland
  18. Die Haftung der Dritten Gewalt - Haftung als Baustein einer judicial accountability
  19. Corporate Volunteering in Germany
  20. Stieftöchter der Psychoanalyse? Ellen Key, Hermine Hug-Hellmuth und Charlotte Bühler
  21. "Wahrheit für die Phantasie"
  22. Global steam coal markets until 2030
  23. The speech act of ‘offers’ in Irish English
  24. Lehren für und Lernen in heterogene(n) Gruppen
  25. Divergent Perceptions of Peace in Post-Conflict Societies:
  26. Nationale und internationale Kooperationen und Dissemination
  27. Kontrolle und Vertrauen
  28. Green chemistry and the leisure industry
  29. Armut und Gesundheit
  30. Abschätzung der flächenhaften Verteilung der nassen Deposition
  31. Draußen? Zur Dialektik von Enteignung und Aneignung und zu deren aktuellen Erscheinungsformen
  32. Management global verteilter Belegschaften
  33. European natural gas supply secure despite political crises
  34. Habitat use by European wildcats (Felis silvestris) in central Spain
  35. Mobil in Deutsch und Geographie/Erdkunde