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. Accepted/In press
  2. Published

    Home ranges of Sand Lizards, Lacerta agilis (Squamata: Sauria: Lacertidae), along railway tracks

    Janssen, A., Staab, M. & Rödel, M.-O., 15.05.2025, In: Salamandra. 62, 2, p. 240-255 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Accepted/In press

    Road Disturbance Shifts Root Fungal Symbiont Types and Reduces the Connectivity of Plant-Fungal Co-Occurrence Networks in Mountains

    Radujković, D., Verbruggen, E., Clavel, J., Pauchard, A., Fuentes-Lillo, E., Barros, A., Aschero, V., Haider, S., Ratier Backes, A., Pergl, J., Vítková, M., Lučanová, A., Nuñez, M. A., Lenoir, J., Nijs, I. & Lembrechts, J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Molecular Ecology. e17771.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests

    Author collaboration for "Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests", Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J., Rifai, S. W., Deng, X., ter Steege, H., Thomson, E., Corral-Rivas, J. J. & Klipel, J., 01.05.2025, In: Nature. 641, 8061, p. 129-136 8 p., 16024.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    When Testing Becomes Learning—Underscoring the Relevance of Habituation to Improve Internal Validity of Common Neurocognitive Tests

    Warneke, K., Oraže, M., Plöschberger, G., Herbsleb, M., Afonso, J. & Wallot, S., 04.2025, In: European Journal of Neuroscience. 61, 8, 14 p., e70117.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. E-pub ahead of print

    The forest beyond the trees: A network perspective on governing co-production of nature’s contributions to people

    Isaac, R., Cumming, G. S., Felipe-Lucia, M. R. & Martín-López, B., 26.04.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ambio. 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. E-pub ahead of print

    The questions we ask matter: insights from place-based research on nature’s contributions to people

    Gross, M., Shepeleva, D., Vogel, F., Mwampamba, T. H., Arbieu, U., Pearson, J., Sesabo, J. K., Codalli, F. & Martín-López, B., 09.05.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Sustainability Science. 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. E-pub ahead of print

    Mapping the intersection of planetary boundaries and environmentally extended input-output analysis: A systematic literature review

    León, M. F. G., Bankert, A., Becerra, D. T. & Abson, D. J., 01.06.2025, In: Sustainable Production and Consumption. 56, p. 546-560 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Accepted/In press

    Conceptualizing transformative climate action: insights from sufficiency research

    Richard, B., Nathan, B., Andreas, N. & Ernest, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Climate Policy. 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  10. E-pub ahead of print

    Nonsterile Lactic Acid Production from Pulse Husks

    Krenz, L. M. M. & Pleissner, D., 22.04.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Waste and Biomass Valorization. 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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