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

    Systems Engineering in Public Administration: Proceedings of the IFIP Tc8/wg8.5 Working Conference on Systems Engineering in Public Administration, Lüneburg, Germany, 3–5 March, 1993

    Bonin, H. E. G. (Editor), 1993, Amsterdam: North-Holland Publ Co. 170 p. (IFIP TRANSACTIONS A-COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; vol. 1)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesConference proceedingsResearch

  2. Published

    System Properties Determine Food Security and Biodiversity Outcomes at Landscape Scale: A Case Study from West Flores, Indonesia

    Collier, N. F., Sayer, J., Boedhihartono, A. K., Hanspach, J., Abson, D. & Fischer, J., 20.03.2018, In: Land. 7, 1, 19 p., 39.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Systemic Risks from Different Perspectives

    Renn, O., Laubichler, M., Lucas, K., Kröger, W., Schanze, J., Scholz, R. W. & Schweizer, P., 01.09.2022, In: Risk Analysis. 42, 9, p. 1902-1920 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    System capacities and implementation challenges in Germany's electric vehicle policy mix: an actor-centered review of the policy mix

    Gathen, L., Upham, P. & Newig, J., 08.2025, In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 218, 12 p., 115787.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Systematisierung ökonomischer Risiken durch globale Umweltprobleme

    Figge, F., 1997, In: Zeitschrift für angewandte Umweltforschung. 10, 2, p. 256-266 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Systematic student-driven literature reviews in sustainability science: An effective way to merge research and teaching

    Abson, D. J., Gralla, F., Lang, D. J., Rau, A. L., von Wehrden, H., Lüderitz, C. & Meyer, M., 15.04.2016, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 119, p. 229-235 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Systematic learning in water governance: insights from five local adaptive management projects for water quality innovation

    Kochskämper, E., Koontz, T. M. & Newig, J., 03.2021, In: Ecology and Society. 26, 1, 13 p., 22.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Systematic distributions of interaction strengths across tree interaction networks yield positive diversity–productivity relationships

    Yu, W., Albert, G., Rosenbaum, B., Schnabel, F., Bruelheide, H., Connolly, J., Härdtle, W., von Oheimb, G., Trogisch, S., Rüger, N. & Brose, U., 01.2024, In: Ecology Letters. 27, 1, 11 p., e14338.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  9. Published

    Systemanalyse für Softwaresysteme

    Bonin, H. E. G., 10.08.2006, Lüneburg: Universität Lüneburg, 199 p. (Final; vol. 16, no. 1).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  10. Published

    Synthesis, self-assembly, bacterial and fungal toxicity, and preliminary biodegradation studies of a series of L-phenylalanine-derived surface-active ionic liquids

    Kapitanov, I. V., Jordan, A., Karpichev, Y., Spulak, M., Perez, L., Kellett, A., Kümmerer, K. & Gathergood, N., 07.04.2019, In: Green Chemistry . 21, 7, p. 1777-1794 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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  2. Wie aus Geflüchteten Kollegen werden
  3. Kompetenzorientiertes Fachwissen von Mathematik-Lehramtsstudierenden
  4. Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz
  5. Einleitung
  6. "Deine ganze Schuld habe ich dir erlassen, und du ...?"
  7. Bedeutung der postoperativen Übungsbehandlung für das Outcome der distalen Radiusfraktur
  8. Neuere Ansätze des 'Verstehens' in der 'Historischen Bildungsforschung'
  9. Plant communities of the Mongolian Transaltay Gobi
  10. Kommunale Abwasserbehandlung - Antibiotika in der Umwelt
  11. Einleitung - zu den politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Konturen
  12. Wo lernen Kinder mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf besser?
  13. Beruf aus Berufung?
  14. Phänomenologischer versus technologischer Ansatz für das Wissensmanagement in Unternehmen
  15. Ist die empirische Makroökonomik eine wissenschaftliche Illusion?
  16. Long-Term Exclusionary Effects of COVID-19 for Refugee Children in the German and Turkish Education Systems: A Comparative Perspective
  17. 4. Personal initiative
  18. Lagrangian coherent sets in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection
  19. Temporäre Nutzungen urbaner Brachflächen
  20. Die Gesetzentwürfe zur CSRD-Umsetzung und zur Änderung des LkSG
  21. Die Rettung des Ontologischen durch das Ontische?
  22. Mädchen und Jungen tanzen
  23. Internationale Arbeitsteilung und intersektorale Verknüpfung im Spektrum von Markt und Hierarchie
  24. Die rechtlichen Vorgaben zur Verstromung von Biomasse
  25. Die Kunst des Defensivspiels. Der Briefwechsel zwischen Hans Blumenberg und Jacob Taubes
  26. Emerging risks from ballast water treatment
  27. Alltag in den Medien - Medien im Alltag
  28. Mündlichkeit fördern und bewerten
  29. Ergebnisse und Herausforderungen der Arbeit in Theorie-Praxis-Netzwerken
  30. Perspectives on German Popular Music
  31. Business, the Natural Environment, and Sustainability
  32. The economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services