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. 2023
  2. Published

    Participation in protected area governance: A systematic case survey of the evidence on ecological and social outcomes

    Huber, J. M., Newig, J. & Loos, J., 15.06.2023, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 336, 117593.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Formative Dimensions for Green and Sustainable Chemical Education: A Qualitative Evaluation Tool of the Formative Level of Experimental Processes

    Andrade, R. S. & Zuin, V. G., 13.06.2023, In: Journal of Chemical Education. 100, 6, p. 2281-2291 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Repensar la conexión con la naturaleza a través de las emociones

    Castro, A. J., Otamendi-Urroz, I., Quintas-Soriano, C., Suárez Alonso, M. L., Vidal-Abarca, M. R. & Martín-López, B., 08.06.2023, In: Ecosistemas. 32, especial, 3 p., 2502.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    The Energy Situation in the Federal Republic of Germany: Analysis of the Current Situation and Perspectives for a Non-Fossil Energy Supply

    Atzler, F., Türck, J., Türck, R. & Krahl, J., 07.06.2023, In: Energies. 16, 12, 8 p., 4569.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Toward spatial fit in the governance of global commodity flows

    Coenen, J., Sonderegger, G., Newig, J., Meyfroidt, P., Challies, E. R. T., Bager, S., Busck-Lumholt, L. M., Corbera, E., Friis, C., Frohn Pedersen, A., Laroche, P. C. S. J., Parra Paitan, C., Qin, S., Roux, N. & Zaehringer, J. G., 07.06.2023, In: Ecology and Society. 28, 2, 18 p., 24.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Alignment of the life cycle initiative’s “principles for the application of life cycle sustainability assessment” with the LCSA practice: A case study review

    Leroy-Parmentier, N., Valdivia, S., Loubet, P. & Sonnemann, G., 01.06.2023, In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 28, 6, p. 704-740 37 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

    Bakker, J. D., Price, J. N., Henning, J. A., Batzer, E., Ohlert, T., Wainwright, C. E., Adler, P. B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C. A., Biederman, L. A., Borer, E. T., Brudvig, L., Buckley, Y. M., Bugalho, M. N., Cadotte, M. W., Da Conceição Caldeira, M., Catford, J. A., Chen, Q., Crawley, M. J., Daleo, P., Dickman, C. R., Donohue, I., DuPre, M. E., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P. A., Gruner, D. S., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Kirkman, K., Knops, J. M. H., Lannes, L. S., MacDougall, A. S., McCulley, R. L., Mitchell, R. M., Moore, J. L., Morgan, J. W., Mortensen, B., Venterink, H. O., Peri, P. L., Power, S. A., Prober, S. M., Roscher, C., Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E. W., Smith, M. D., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L. L., Tedder, M. J., Veen, G. F. C., Virtanen, R. & Wardle, G. M., 01.06.2023, In: Ecosphere - An esa open access journal. 14, 6, 17 p., e4542.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Flowers in the dark: The contribution of rooftop urban agriculture to human well-being in the Ein El-Hilweh Refugee Camp, Lebanon

    Tarchahani, A. & Loos, J., 01.06.2023, In: World Development Sustainability. 2, 8 p., 100057.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Introduction to the challenges and chances regarding the utilization of nitrogen-rich by-products and waste streams

    Thielemann, A. K. & Pleissner, D., 01.06.2023, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 41, 100813.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  11. Published

    Landscape dynamics and chronological refinement of the Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf Sequence of Schöningen, NW Germany

    Urban, B., Kasper, T., Krahn, K. J., van Kolfschoten, T., Rech, B., Holzheu, M., Tucci, M. & Schwalb, A., 01.06.2023, In: Quaternary Research. 114, p. 148-177 30 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch