School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- Published
Resolving potential conflicts between different heathland ecosystem services through adaptive management
Alonso, I. & Härdtle, W., 14.07.2015, In: Ecological Questions. 21, p. 101-103 3 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Resolving conflicts between people and over time in the transformation toward sustainability: A framework of interdependent conflicts
Majer, J. M., Barth, M., Zhang, H., Treek, M. & Trötschel, R., 15.04.2021, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 12, 16 p., 623757.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Resilienz und Reallabore als Schlüsselkonzepte urbaner Transitionsforschung: Zwölf Thesen
De Flander, K., Hahne, U., Kegler, H., Lang, D. J., Lucas, R., Schneidewind, U., Simon, K.-H., Singer-Brodowski, M., Wanner, M. & Wiek, A., 10.10.2014, In: GAIA. 23, 3, p. 284-286 3 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research
- Published
Resilience principles and a leverage points perspective for sustainable woody vegetation management in a social-ecological system of southwestern Ethiopia
Shumi, G., Wahler, H., Riechers, M., Senbeta, F., Abson, D. J., Schultner, J. & Fischer, J., 01.06.2023, In: Ecology and Society. 28, 2, 31 p., 34.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Resilience or vulnerability? Vegetation patterns of a Central Tibetan pastoral ecotone
Miehe, G., Miehe, S., Bach, K., Wesche, K., Seeber, E., Behrendes, L., Kaiser, K., Reudenbach, C., Nölling, J., Hanspach, J., Herrmann, M., Yaoming, M. & Mosbrugger, V., 2013, Steppe Ecosystems: Biological Diversity, Management and Restoration. Morales Prieto, M. B. & Traba Diaz, J. (eds.). Hauppage, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., p. 111-151 41 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Chapter › peer-review
- Published
Resilience, Entrepreneurship and ICT: Latest Research from Germany, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia
Halberstadt, J. (Editor), Faasch, H. (Editor), Marx Gómez, J. (Editor), Greyling, J. (Editor) & Mufeti, T. K. (Editor), 2021, Cham: Springer Verlag. 420 p. (CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance)Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research
- Published
Resilience and the Sustainable Development Goals: a scrutiny of urban strategies in the 100 Resilient Cities initiative
Kochskämper, E., Glass, L.-M., Haupt, W., Malekpour, S. & Grainger-Brown, J., 04.2025, In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 68, 7, p. 1691-1717 27 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Resilience and coastal governance: knowledge and navigation between stability and transformation
Rölfer, L., Celliers, L. & Abson, D. J., 01.06.2022, In: Ecology and Society. 27, 2, 15 p., 40.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Research pathways to foster transformation: linking sustainability science and social-ecological systems research
Horcea-Milcu, A.-I., Martín-López, B., Lam, D. & Lang, D. J., 03.2020, In: Ecology and Society. 25, 1, 29 p., 13.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Research on the social perception of invasive species: a systematic literature review
Kapitza, K., Zimmermann, H., Martín-López, B. & Wehrden, H. V., 14.03.2019, In: NeoBiota. 43, p. 47-68 22 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review