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.
- E-pub ahead of print
Enhancing the transformative potential of sustainability innovations: An application of the values-rules-knowledge framework
Dabard, C. H., Mann, C. & Martín-López, B., 13.03.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ambio. 17 p., 102273.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Enhancing the transformative potential of interventions for the sustainable use of natural resources
Loos, J., Cortés-Capano, G., Riechers, M., Walsh, C. & Leventon, J., 01.08.2024, In: Biological Conservation. 296, 10 p., 110691.Research output: Journal contributions › Comments / Debate / Reports › Research
- Published
Enhancing the structural diversity between forest patches — A concept and real-world experiment to study biodiversity, multifunctionality and forest resilience across spatial scales
Müller, J., Mitesser, O., Cadotte, M. W., van der Plas, F., Mori, A., Ammer, C., Chao, A., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Baldrian, P., Bässler, C., Biedermann, P., Cesarz, S., Claßen, A., Delory, B. M., Feldhaar, H., Fichtner, A., Hothorn, T., Kuenzer, C., Peters, M. K., Pierick, K., Schmitt, T., Schuldt, B., Seidel, D., Six, D., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Thorn, S., von Oheimb, G., Wegmann, M., Weisser, W. W. & Eisenhauer, N., 03.2023, In: Global Change Biology. 29, 6, p. 1437-1450 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Enhancing stakeholder role reducing urban flood vulnerability – the DIANE-CM approach
Evers, M., Jonoski, A. & Maksimović, Č., 2009, Road Map Towards a Flood Resilient Urban Environment: proceedings final conference of the COST action C22 urban flood management in cooperation with UNESCO-IHP ; Paris 26./27.11.2009 ; [program of the conference and the abstracts of all papers selected for oral presentation]. Pasche, E., Evelpidou, N., Zevenbergen, C., Ashley, R. & Garvin, S. (eds.). Institut für Wasserbau TU Hamburg Harburg , p. 44 1 p. (Hamburger Wasserbau-Schriften; vol. 6).Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review
- Published
Enhancement of Capsid Gene Expression: Preparing the Human Papillomavirus Type 16 Major Structural Gene L1 for DNA Vaccination Purposes.
Leder, C., Kleinschmidt, J. A., Wiethe, C. & Müller, M., 01.10.2001, In: Journal of Virology. 75, 19, p. 9201-9209 9 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Enhanced reservoir operation as an instrument for supporting water stress mitigation: the Italian case study.
Bauer, M., Botti, P., Zaccolo, S. & Olsson, O., 10.06.2009, The Use of Economic Valuation in Environmental Policy: Providing Research Support for the Implementation of EU Water Policy Under Aquastress. Koundouri, P. (ed.). 1 ed. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 196-220 25 p. (Routledge explorations in environmental economics; no. 17).Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Chapter › peer-review
- Published
Enhanced Calculation Procedures for Material and Energy Flow Oriented EMIS
Möller, A., 2012, EnviroInfo 2012 ; Man - Environment - Bauhaus : light up the ideas of environmental informatics ; 26th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection ; proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Informatics - Informatics for Environmental Protection, Sustainable Development and Risk Management, August 29 - 31, 2012, Umweltbundesamt Dessau, Germany: Part 2: Open Data and Industrial Ecological Management. Arndt, H.-K., Knetsch, G. & Pillmann, W. (eds.). 1 ed. Shaker Verlag, Vol. 2. p. 489-499 11 p. (Berichte aus der Umweltinformatik).Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Article in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review
- Published
Engineered Societies
Flack, J. C. & Laubichler, M. D., 2021, Worlds Hidden in Plain Sight: Thirty Years of Complexity Thinking at the Santa Fe Institute 1984-2019. Krakauer, D. C. (ed.). The Santa FE Institute Presse (SFI), p. 257-264 8 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research
- Published
Engaging Teacher Educators with the Sustainability Agenda: A Case Study of a Pilot Professional Development Program from Ethiopia
Amado, A., Dalelo, A., Adomßent, M. & Fischer, D., 2017, In: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 18, 5, p. 715-737 23 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Engaging Refugees With a Culturally Adapted Digital Intervention to Improve Sleep: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial
Spanhel, K., Hovestadt, E., Lehr, D., Spiegelhalder, K., Baumeister, H., Bengel, J. & Sander, L. B., 23.02.2022, In: Frontiers in Psychiatry. 13, 13 p., 832196.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review