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

    ‘The human shield effect’: Human-wildlife co-occurrence patterns in the coffee forests of southwestern Ethiopia

    Rodrigues, P., Dorresteijn, I. & Gimenez, O., 01.09.2023, In: Food Webs. 36, 8 p., e00288.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  2. Published

    Special issue: Frameworks for Sustainability Management

    Hörisch, J. (Editor), Schaltegger, S. (Editor), Weissbrod, I. (Editor) & Schreck, P. (Editor), 05.2023, Berlin: Springer Verlag. (Journal of Business Economics; vol. 93, no. 4)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  3. Published

    Alignment of the life cycle initiative’s “principles for the application of life cycle sustainability assessment” with the LCSA practice: A case study review

    Leroy-Parmentier, N., Valdivia, S., Loubet, P. & Sonnemann, G., 01.06.2023, In: International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 28, 6, p. 704-740 37 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Was Naturwissenschaftsdidaktiken und Religionspädagogik voneinander über Inklusion lernen können

    Abels, S. & Witten, U., 01.05.2023, In: Zeitschrift für Inklusion. 2, 716.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  5. Published

    Fossil footprints at the late lower Paleolithic site of Schöningen (Germany): A new line of research to reconstruct animal and hominin paleoecology

    Altamura, F., Lehmann, J., Rodríguez-Álvarez, B., Urban, B., van Kolfschoten, T., Verheijen, I., Conard, N. J. & Serangeli, J., 15.06.2023, In: Quaternary Science Reviews. 310, 108094.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  6. Published

    A Matter of Framing: Analyzing Value Communication in Sustainable Business Models

    Norris, S., 12.2023, In: Organization & Environment. 36, 4, p. 503–528 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Rebound effects: Management and Prevention. Guideline for Companies

    Wolff, F., Gensch, C.-O., Kampffmeyer, N., Schöpflin, P., Lautermann, C., Gebauer, J., Schaltegger, S., Norris, S., Wüst, S., Thiel, D. & Buda, F., 2023, Öko-Institut.

    Research output: Working paperProject reportsResearch

  8. Published

    What enables metals ‘being’ ‘responsible’? An exploratory study on the enabling of organizational identity claims through a new sustainability standard

    Imbrogiano, J.-P., Steiner, B., Junior, R. M. & Sturman, K., 01.06.2023, In: Resources Policy. 83, p. 1-10 10 p., 103619.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Rethinking Economic Practices and Values As Assemblages of More-Than-Human Relations

    Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Benavides-Frías, C., Raymond, C. M., Díaz-Reviriego, I. & Hanspach, J., 01.09.2023, In: Ecological Economics. 211, 9 p., 107866.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Sustainable digitalization – fostering the twin transformation in a transdisciplinary way

    Barth, M., Gossen, M., Lang, D. J. & Santarius, T., 13.03.2023, In: GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society. 32, Sp1, p. 6-9 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review