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. Published

    Ressourcensicherung durch Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement

    Schaltegger, S., 2008, In: Die Volkswirtschaft. 81, 9, p. 45 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  2. Published

    Ressourcen und Gender: thematische Ausarbeitung basierend auf Sekundäranalyse, Interviews und Bewertung aus Genderperspektive

    Fischer, K., 2005, Berlin: Genanet - Leitstelle Geschlechtergerechtigkeit und Nachhaltigkeit, 28 p. (GenaStudien; vol. 4).

    Research output: Working paperResearch communication reportsResearch

  3. Published

    Restoration ecology meets carabidology: effects of floodplain restitution on ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

    Günther, J. & Assmann, T., 01.06.2005, In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 14, 7, p. 1583-1606 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Resümee: Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung – Impulse für die Hochschullandschaft

    Fischer, D., Michelsen, G. & Barth, M., 16.10.2023, Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung in der Hochschule: Wege und Wirkungen am Beispiel der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg. Michelsen, G., Barth, M. & Fischer, D. (eds.). Leverkusen: Verlag Babara Budrich, p. 183-190 8 p. (Schriftenreihe "Ökologie und Erziehungswissenschaft" der Kommission Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung der DGfE).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  5. Published

    ReSurveyEurope: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

    ReSurveyEurope, Knollová, I., Chytrý, M., Bruelheide, H., Dullinger, S., Haider, S. & Härdtle, W., 01.03.2024, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 35, 2, 18 p., e13235.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    ReSurveyGermany: Vegetation-plot time-series over the past hundred years in Germany

    Jandt, U., Bruelheide, H., Berg, C., Bernhardt-Römermann, M., Blüml, V., Bode, F., Dengler, J., Diekmann, M., Dierschke, H., Doerfler, I., Döring, U., Dullinger, S., Härdtle, W., Haider, S., Heinken, T., Horchler, P., Jansen, F., Kudernatsch, T., Kuhn, G., Lindner, M., Matesanz, S., Metze, K., Meyer, S., Müller, F., Müller, N., Naaf, T., Peppler-Lisbach, C., Poschlod, P., Roscher, C., Rosenthal, G., Rumpf, S. B., Schmidt, W., Schrautzer, J., Schwabe, A., Schwartze, P., Sperle, T., Stanik, N., Stroh, H. G., Storm, C., Voigt, W., von Heßberg, A., von Oheimb, G., Wagner, E. R., Wegener, U., Wesche, K., Wittig, B. & Wulf, M., 01.12.2022, In: Scientific data. 9, 1, 13 p., 631.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Rethinking biodiversity governance in European agricultural landscapes: Acceptability of alternative governance scenarios

    Velten, S., Schaal, T., Mildorfová-Leventon, J., Hanspach, J., Fischer, J. & Newig, J., 09.2018, In: Land Use Policy. 77, p. 84-93 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Rethinking Chemistry for a circular economy

    Kümmerer, K., Clark, J. & Zuin, V. G., 23.01.2020, In: Science. 367, 6476, p. 369 - 370 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Rethinking Economic Practices and Values As Assemblages of More-Than-Human Relations

    Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Benavides-Frías, C., Raymond, C. M., Díaz-Reviriego, I. & Hanspach, J., 01.09.2023, In: Ecological Economics. 211, 9 p., 107866.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Rethinking gender: feminist perspectives on Sustainable Development Goals in the light of (re)productivity

    Mölders, T., 01.01.2019, In: GAIA. 28, 2, p. 95-99 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch