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

    The Food Waste Lab: Improving food waste reduction behavior through education

    Mariam, N., Nina, L., Fabian, B., Florence, Z., Abels, S., Ulf, S. & Daniel, F., 10.10.2022, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 370, 133447.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published
  3. Published

    The First-Mover Disadvantage: The Folly of Revealing Compatible Preferences

    Loschelder, D. D., Swaab, R., Trötschel, R. & Galinsky, A. D., 04.2014, In: Psychological Science. 25, 4, p. 954-962 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    The feeling thinking talking intervention with teachers advances young children's emotion knowledge

    Voltmer, K. & von Salisch, M., 08.2022, In: Social Development. 31, 3, p. 846- 861 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    The feasibility of using Apple's ResearchKit for recruitment and data collection: Considerations for mental health research

    Bührmann, L., Van Daele, T., Rinn, A., De Witte, N. A. J., Lehr, D., Aardoom, J. J., Loheide-Niesmann, L., Smit, J. & Riper, H., 01.11.2022, In: Frontiers in Digital Health. 4, 12 p., 978749.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The farmer as a landscape steward: Comparing local understandings of landscape stewardship, landscape values, and land management actions

    Raymond, C. M., Bieling, C., Fagerholm, N., Martin-Lopez, B. & Plieninger, T., 01.03.2016, In: Ambio. 45, 2, p. 173-184 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    The exotic species Senecio inaequidens pays the price for arriving late in temperate European grassland communities

    Delory, B. M., Weidlich, E. W. A., Kunz, M., Neitzel, J. & Temperton, V. M., 01.11.2019, In: Oecologia. 191, 3, p. 657-671 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    The exotic shrub Rosa rubiginosa as a nurse plant: Implications for the restoration of disturbed temperate forests in Patagonia

    Svriz, M., Damascos, M., Zimmermann, H. & Hensen, I., 01.02.2013, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 289, Februar, p. 234-242 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The Evaluation of the GET.ON Nationwide Web-Only Treatment Service for Depression- and Stress-Related Symptoms: Naturalistic Trial

    Etzelmueller, A., Heber, E., Horvath, H., Radkovsky, A., Lehr, D. & Ebert, D. D., 01.02.2024, In: Journal of Medical Internet Research. 26, 1, 21 p., e42976.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The European species of Chalarus Walker, 1834 revisited (Diptera: Pipunculidae)

    Kehlmaier, C. & Aßmann, T., 19.11.2008, In: Zootaxa. 1936, 1, p. 1-39 39 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review