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. 2026
  2. Published

    Reconceptualizing the role of socioeconomic material stocks in the leverage points framework to enable transformative change

    Haas, W., Abson, D. J., Haberl, H., Spittler, N., Wiedenhofer, D. & Dorninger, C., 01.2026, In: Ecological Economics. 239, 9 p., 108759.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Accepted/In press
  4. Accepted/In press

    Education for sustainable lifestyles: a powerful tool for what and for whom?

    Grauer, C., Solbakken, I., Fischer, D. & Didham, R. J., 2026, (Accepted/In press) Handbook of Research on Sustainable Lifestyles. Cohen, M. J., McGreevy, S., Lorek, S., Lambino, R. & Bengtsson, M. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing

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

  5. 2025
  6. E-pub ahead of print

    Safe and Sustainable-by-Design under The European Green Deal - Regulatory Readiness or Pressure for Companies?

    Sudheshwar, A., Apel, C., Kümmerer, K., Soeteman-Hernández, L. G., Scheper, J. K., Falk, A., Batel, A., Markard, J., Som, C., Wang, Z. & Nowack, B., 13.12.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Time to take the Declaration of Helsinki seriously? A systematic review of comparison conditions in clinical trials on internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia

    Grolig, L., Brückner, H. A., Heimes, H., Buntrock, C., Hempeler, C., Spiegelhalder, K. & Lehr, D., 12.12.2025, In: Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2026, 85

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Aarhus-Konvention unter Druck: UK und EU stellen den Compliance-Mechanismus in Frage

    Bertram, A., 04.12.2025

    Research output: other publicationsArticles in scientific forums or blogsTransfer

  9. Published

    Disentangling the influence of environmental conditions on sex determination in haplodiploid organisms

    Wittmann, K., Klein, A. M., Pichler, M. & Staab, M., 03.12.2025, In: Journal of Animal Ecology. 94, 12, p. 2584-2596 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Arthropod species loss underpins biomass declines

    Wildermuth, B., Brocher, M., Ladouceur, E., Meyer, S. T., Schielzeth, H., Staab, M., Achury, R., Blüthgen, N., Hertzog, L., Hines, J., Roscher, C., Schweiger, O., Weisser, W. W. & Ebeling, A., 02.12.2025, In: Nature Ecology & Evolution. 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. E-pub ahead of print

    Leugnung des Existenzrechts Israels: Zur Verfassungsmäßigkeit einer potenziellen Verschärfung des § 130 StGB

    Schatz, V. J., Bertram, A. & Bartmann, E., 01.12.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Recht und Politik. p. 1-11

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  12. Published

    A critical analysis of the policy potential for sustainable agriculture in India

    Chauhan, N. & von Wehrden, H., 12.2025, In: Discover Sustainability. 6, 1, 13 p., 233.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  13. Published

    Environmental justice gaps in human-wildlife conflict research from a social-ecological systems perspective

    Alba-Patiño, D., Martín-López, B., Delibes-Mateos, M., Requena-Mullor, J. M. & Castro, A. J., 12.2025, In: Biological Conservation. 312, 11 p., 111515.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  14. Published

    Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory

    Nelson, R. A., Sullivan, L. L., Hersch-Green, E. I., Seabloom, E. W., Borer, E. T., Tognetti, P. M., Adler, P. B., Biederman, L., Bugalho, M. N., Caldeira, M. C., Cancela, J. P., Carvalheiro, L. G., Catford, J. A., Dickman, C. R., Dolezal, A. J., Donohue, I., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Elgersma, K. J., Eskelinen, A., Estrada, C., Garbowski, M., Graff, P., Gruner, D. S., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Harpole, W. S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Johanson, N., Koerner, S. E., Lannes, L. S., MacDougall, A. S., Martinson, H., Morgan, J. W., Olde Venterink, H., Orr, D., Osborne, B. B., Peri, P. L., Power, S. A., Raynaud, X., Risch, A. C., Shrestha, M., Smith, N. G., Stevens, C. J., Veen, G. F. C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G. M., Wolf, A. A., Young, A. L. & Harrison, S. P., 12.2025, In: Communications Biology. 8, 1, 10 p., 444.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    From consumers to pioneers: insights from thermal energy communities in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands

    Herreras Martínez, S., Mesman, J., Sneum, D. M., Holstenkamp, L., Harmsen, R., Menkveld, M., Akerboom, S. & Faaij, A., 12.2025, In: Energy, Sustainability and Society. 15, 1, 31 p., 5.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    How methods influence nature's values we find – A comparison of three elicitation methods

    Kuhn, L., Cebrián-Piqueras, M. Á., Riechers, M., Loos, J. & Martín-López, B., 12.2025, In: Ecological Economics. 238, 11 p., 108721.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Investigating values and environmental attitudes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

    Detjen, L., Schröder, S., Schwenck, M., Summa, J., Schreiber, J. & von Wehrden, H., 12.2025, In: Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 15, 4, p. 773-787 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Local nutrient addition drives plant diversity losses but not biotic homogenization in global grasslands

    Chen, Q., Blowes, S. A., Harpole, W. S., Ladouceur, E., Borer, E. T., MacDougall, A., Martina, J. P., Bakker, J. D., Tognetti, P. M., Seabloom, E. W., Daleo, P., Power, S., Roscher, C., Adler, P. B., Donohue, I., Wheeler, G., Stevens, C., Veen, G. F. C., Risch, A. C., Wardle, G. M., Hautier, Y., Estrada, C., Hersch-Green, E., Niu, Y., Peri, P. L., Eskelinen, A., Gruner, D. S., Olde Venterink, H., D’Antonio, C., Cadotte, M. W., Haider, S., Eisenhauer, N., Catford, J., Virtanen, R., Morgan, J. W., Tedder, M., Bagchi, S., Caldeira, M. C., Bugalho, M. N., Knops, J. M. H., Dickman, C. R., Hagenah, N., Jentsch, A., Macek, P., Osborne, B. B., Laanisto, L. & Chase, J. M., 12.2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 1, 8 p., 4903.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Long-term heterotrophic cultivation of Galdieria sulphuraria at technical scale under non-sterile conditions

    Pleissner, D., Händel, N., Schönfelder, S., Petrusan, J. I., Queiroz Silva, B., Schröder, J., Müller, J., Cowan, K. & Smetana, S., 12.2025, In: Sustainable Chemistry One World. 8, 8 p., 100116.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Marine biodiversity change impacts relational values: expert survey shows policy mismatch

    Dajka, J. C., Levi, S., Verstraeten, A. M., Menendez, V. A., Smith, M., Snow, B., Vargas-Fonseca, O. A. & Hillebrand, H., 12.2025, In: NPJ Ocean Sustainability. 4, 1, 8 p., 42.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    More-than-human synchronizations expose the fractures of the agrarian commodity frontier in the Bolivian Chiquitanía

    Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Keleman-Saxena, A., Benavides-Frías, C., Díaz-Reviriego, I. & Hanspach, J., 12.2025, In: Journal of Rural Studies. 120, 12 p., 103846.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  22. Published

    Older people care increases the gender gap in academia

    Vidal-Abarca, M. R., Martín-López, B., Sala-Bubaré, A., Anton-Pardo, M., Catalan, N., Freixa, A., Lupon, A., Nicolás-Ruiz, N., Poblador, S., Rodríguez-Lozano, P., Sánchez-Montoya, M. D. M. & Suárez, M. L., 12.2025, In: Scientific Reports. 15, 1, 10 p., 33336.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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