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

    Understanding preferences for nature's contributions to people between and within social actors sheds insights for inclusive conservation

    Gross, M., Mwampamba, T. H., Sanya, J., Pearson, J., Sesabo, J. & Martín-López, B., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: People and Nature.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Resilience and regeneration for a world in crisis

    Fischer, J., Farny, S., Pacheco-Romero, M. & Folke, C., 25.11.2025, In: Ambio. 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published
  4. Published

    Demokratiebildung als Querschnittsaufgabe beruflicher Bildung

    Hantke, H., Heitzhausen, S., Kaiser, F., Tafner, G., Wittau, F. & Zurstrassen, B., 2025, Jahrbuch der berufs- und wirtschaftspädagogische Forschung 2024. Kögler, K., Kremer, H.-H. & Herkner, V. (eds.).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Herausforderungen der Nachhaltigkeitstransformation mit Methoden der Gamification begegnen – Mobile Escape Rooms als Resonanzräume spielerisch-transformativen Lernens

    Hantke, H., 2025, Innovative Ansätze für die Nachhaltigkeitslehre in der Hochschulbildung. Leal, W. (ed.).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesEducationpeer-review

  6. Accepted/In press

    Umgang mit Ambiguitäten im Kontext nachhaltiger Entwicklung – Empirische Einblicke in Lehr-Lern-Prozesse von Schüler:innen

    Hantke, H., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Transformationen der Arbeit – Herausforderung für sozioökonomische Forschung, Bildung und Lehre?. Hagedorn, U. (ed.).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  7. Accepted/In press

    Responsiv-transformative Weltbeziehungen – Resonanz als Anspruch einer nachhaltigkeitsbezogenen Bildung

    Hantke, H. & Lorch, A., 2025, (Accepted/In press) Handbuch Resonanz. Beljan, J. (ed.).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesTransferpeer-review

  8. Published

    Education for Sustainable Consumption

    Schrader, U. & Fischer, D., 2025, Vocabulary for Sustainable Consumption and Lifestyles: A Language for Our Common Future. Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 257-260 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  9. E-pub ahead of print

    The iceberg of science identity: structural inequalities in science-related practices and dispositions

    Nascimento, M. & Markic, S., 25.06.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: International Journal of Science Education. p. 1–18

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Accepted/In press

    Navigating across individual and deliberative values: A dual Q-method approach to elicit diverse values in grassland restoration

    Cebrián-Piqueras, M. A., Gray, K., Kuhn, L., Loos, J., Pătru-Dușe, I. A., Riechers, M., Temperton, V. & Martín-López, B., 02.10.2025, (Accepted/In press) In: People and Nature. 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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