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

    Multiple streams, resistance and energy policy change in Paraguay (2004–2014)

    Llamosas, C., Upham, P. & Blanco, G., 01.08.2018, In: Energy Research and Social Science. 42, August 2018, p. 226-236 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems

    Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L., Klein, A.-M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W. W., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H. & Eisenhauer, N., 01.12.2019, In: Nature Communications. 10, 1, 11 p., 1460.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Multiple Glacial Refugia of the Low-Dispersal Ground Beetle Carabus irregularis: Molecular Data Support Predictions of Species Distribution Models

    Homburg, K., Drees, C., Gossner, M. M., Rakosy, L., Vrezec, A. & Aßmann, T., 04.04.2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 4, 12 p., e61185.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Multiple Glacial Refuges of Unwinged Ground Beetles in Europe: Molecular Data Support Classical Phylogeographic Models

    Drees, C., Matern, A., Oheimb, G., Reimann, T. & Aßmann, T., 2010, Relict species: Phylogeography and conservation biology. Habel, J. C. & Aßmann, T. (eds.). Berlin ; Heidelberg: Springer Verlag, p. 199-215 17 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  5. Published

    Multiple components of plant diversity loss determine herbivore phylogenetic diversity in a subtropical forest experiment

    Wang, M.-Q., Li, Y., Chesters, D., Anttonen, P., Bruelheide, H., Chen, J.-T., Durka, W., Guo, P.-F., Haerdtle, W., Ma, K., Michalski, S. G., Schmid, B., von Oheimb, G., Wu, C.-S., Zhang, N.-L., Zhou, Q.-S., Schuldt, A. & Zhu, C.-D., 01.11.2019, In: Journal of Ecology. 107, 6, p. 2697-2712 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Multiple anthropogenic pressures challenge the effectiveness of protected areas in western Tanzania

    Giliba, R., Fust, P., Kiffner, C. & Loos, J., 01.06.2022, In: Conservation Science and Practice. 4, 6, 17 p., e12684.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Multinational Enterprise Strategies for Addressing Sustainability: the Need for Consolidation

    Burritt, R. L., Christ, K. L., Rammal, H. G. & Schaltegger, S., 01.06.2020, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 164, 2, p. 389-410 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published
  9. Published

    Multimedia in der Umweltbildung: Multimedia in der Umweltbildung / Heino Apel

    Barth, M., 2006, In: Germanistik. 29, 3, p. 85-86 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  10. Published

    Multilevel Water Governance and Problems of Scale: Setting the Stage for a Broader Debate

    Moss, T. & Newig, J., 07.2010, In: Environmental Management. 46, 1, p. 1-6 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch