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. 2024
  2. Published

    Designing greener active pharmaceutical ingredients: Insights from pharmaceutical industry into drug discovery and development

    Puhlmann, N., Vidaurre, R. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2024, In: European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 192, 13 p., 106614.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Forest Restoration

    Resende, A. F., Krainovic, P. M., Brancalion, P. H. S., Weidlich, E. W. A., Rodrigues, R. R., Strassburg, B. & Loyola, R., 01.01.2024, Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Third Edition: Volume 1-7. Scheiner, S. M. (ed.). Third Edition ed. Oxford: Academic Press Inc., Vol. 4. p. 799-813 15 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  4. Published

    How to identify published articles originating from paper presentations at academic conferences of the Earth System Governance Research Community: Screening and matching guideline

    Newig, J., Rose, M. & Melchior, I. C., 01.01.2024, SSRN Social Science Research Network, 8 p. (SSRN).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  5. Published

    Learning from Safe-by-Design for Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design: Mapping the Current Landscape of Safe-by-Design Reviews, Case Studies, and Frameworks

    Sudheshwar, A., Apel, C., Kümmerer, K., Wang, Z., Soeteman-Hernández, L. G., Valsami-Jones, E., Som, C. & Nowack, B., 01.01.2024, In: Environment international. 183, 13 p., 108305.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Spatial trends and ecotoxic risk assessment of selected pharmaceuticals in sediments from Lake Victoria, Uganda, East Africa

    Nantaba, F., Wasswa, J., Kylin, H., Bouwman, H., Palm, W.-U. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2024, In: Science of the Total Environment. 906, 10 p., 167348.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Unternehmerisches Pandemiecontrolling: Damit “nach der Krise” nicht “vor der Krise” wird

    Schaltegger, S., 01.01.2024, In: Controlling. 36, 1, p. 30-36 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  8. Published

    Combining multiple investigative approaches to unravel functional responses to global change in the understorey of temperate forests

    Landuyt, D., Perring, M. P., Blondeel, H., De Lombaerde, E., Depauw, L., Lorer, E., Maes, S. L., Baeten, L., Bergès, L., Bernhardt-Römermann, M., Brūmelis, G., Brunet, J., Chudomelová, M., Czerepko, J., Decocq, G., den Ouden, J., De Frenne, P., Dirnböck, T., Durak, T., Fichtner, A., Gawryś, R., Härdtle, W., Hédl, R., Heinrichs, S., Heinken, T., Jaroszewicz, B., Kirby, K., Kopecký, M., Máliš, F., Macek, M., Mitchell, F. J. G., Naaf, T., Petřík, P., Reczynska, K., Schmidt, W., Standovár, T., Swierkosz, K., Smart, S. M., Van Calster, H., Vild, O., Waller, D. M., Wulf, M. & Verheyen, K., 01.2024, In: Global Change Biology. 30, 1, 14 p., e17086.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Hill–Chao numbers allow decomposing gamma multifunctionality into alpha and beta components

    Chao, A., Chiu, C.-H., Hu, K.-H., van der Plas, F., Cadotte, M. W., Mitesser, O., Thorn, S., Mori, A. S., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Eisenhauer, N., Bässler, C., Delory, B., Feldhaar, H., Fichtner, A., Hothorn, T., Peters, M. K., Pierick, K., von Oheimb, G. & Müller, J., 01.2024, In: Ecology Letters. 27, 1, 14 p., e14336.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    I share because of who I am: values, identities, norms, and attitudes explain sharing intentions

    Schuster, C., Goseberg, T., Arnold, J. & Sundermann, A., 01.2024, In: Journal of Social Psychology. 164, 2, p. 199-217 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Promoting Subjective Well-Being and a Sustainable Lifestyle in Children and Youth by Strengthening Their Personal Psychological Resources

    Voltmer, K. & von Salisch, M., 01.2024, In: Sustainability. 16, 1, 16 p., 134.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

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