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. 2025
  2. Published

    Interplays between relational and instrumental values: insights from research experiences on human–nature relations

    Riechers, M., Pearson, J., Diaz-Cruz, N., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S. & Topp, E., 01.2025, In: Sustainability Science. 20, 1, p. 287-298 12 p., 104232.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Orientation-driven photosynthesized carbon belowground mediates intercropped peanut microbiota changes for pathogen resistance

    Lu, J., Shen, Y., He, G., Li, S., Kumar, A., Sun, B. & Chen, Y., 01.2025, In: Plant and Soil. 506, 1, p. 209-226 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Revisiting the sustainability science research agenda

    Sahle, M., Lahoti, S. A., Lee, S. Y., Brundiers, K., van Riper, C. J., Pohl, C., Chien, H., Bohnet, I. C., Aguilar-Rivera, N., Edwards, P., Pradhan, P., Plieninger, T., Boonstra, W. J., Flor, A. G., Di Fabio, A., Scheidel, A., Gordon, C., Abson, D. J., Andersson, E., Demaria, F., Kenter, J. O., Brooks, J., Kauffman, J., Hamann, M., Graziano, M., Nagabhatla, N., Mimura, N., Fagerholm, N., O’Farrell, P., Saito, O. & Takeuchi, K., 01.2025, In: Sustainability Science. 20, 1, p. 1-19 19 p., e0261190.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  5. Published

    Water-related problématiques: five archetypical contexts of water governance

    Bilalova, S., Villamayor-Tomas, S. & Newig, J., 01.2025, In: Ecology and Society. 30, 1, 40 p., 10.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Alles nur ein Kampf? Schüler:innenvorstellungen zu Aspekten der Immunreaktion

    Sowinski, R., Hofer, E. & Abels, S., 2025, In: Zeitschrift für Didaktik der Biologie (ZDB) - Biologie Lehren und Lernen. 30, 1, p. 25-48 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A metacoupling lens on the co-production of nature’s contributions to people: Insights for sustainability

    Mayer, A., Martín-López, B., Locatelli, B., Rabeschini, G., Liu, J., Loos, J., Felipe-Lucia, M. R., Riechers, M. & Isaac, R., 2025, Ecological Horizons: From Nature to People. Dumbrell, A. J. (ed.). Academic Press Inc., p. 91-115 27 p. (Advances in Ecological Research; vol. 72, no. 1).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Accepted/In press

    A multi-layered values-based approach to advance social-ecological restoration: Insights from real-world laboratories in Germany

    Gray, K., Loos, J., Martín-López, B., Riechers, M., Kirmer, A. & Cebrián-Piqueras, M., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Ambio.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Accepted/In press

    Attitude Without Action-What Really Hinders Ethical Consumption

    Berberyan, Z., Jastram, S. M., Heuer, M., Schnittka, O. & Rosenkranz, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Business Ethics.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Accepted/In press

    Author Correction: Artificial intelligence in sustainable development research (Nature Sustainability, (2025), 8, 8, (970-978), 10.1038/s41893-025-01598-6)

    Gohr, C., Rodríguez Aboytes, J. G., Belomestnykh, S., Berg-Moelleken, D., Chauhan, N., Engler, J. O., Heydebreck, L. V., Hintz, M. J., Kretschmer, M.-F., Krügermeier, C., Meinberg, J., Rau, A.-L., Schwenck, C., Aoulkadi, I., Poll, S., Frank, E., Creutzig, F., Lemke, O., Maushart, M., Pfendtner-Heise, J., Rathgens, J. & von Wehrden, H., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Nature Sustainability. 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  11. Accepted/In press

    Biological invasions: a global assessment of geographic distributions, long-term trends, and data gaps

    Author collaboration of "Biological invasions: a global assessment of geographic distributions, long-term trends, and data gaps", 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Biological Reviews.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Accepted/In press

    Blueprint of a smokescreen: Introducing the validated climate disinformation corpus for behavioural research on combating climate disinformation

    Spampatti, T., Brosch, T., Mumenthaler, C. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: British Journal of Psychology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Accepted/In press

    ‘Chains of leverage’ as way to identify and foster transformative potential

    Riechers, M., Schaal-Lagodzinski, T., Pereira, L., Loos, J. & Fischer, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: People and Nature. 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. 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

  15. Accepted/In press

    Digitale Gesundheitskompetenz an Schulen. Entwicklung eines Selbstbewertungsinstruments zur Erfassung organisationaler Bedingungen

    Hartmann, A., Fischer, L., Rangnow, P., Stauch, L., Renninger, D., Okan, O. & Dadaczynski, K., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Pravention und Gesundheitsforderung.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Accepted/In press

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

    Wittmann, K., Klein, A. M., Pichler, M. & Staab, M., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Animal Ecology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Accepted/In press

    Empowering Change: A Self-Control Perspective on How Choice Architecture Interventions Can Promote Sustainable Behavior Change

    Engel, L., Kukowski, C. A. & Hahnel, U. J. J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Motivation Science.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Accepted/In press

    Enhancing public participation through social learning and local identity: the case of climate adaptation in small and medium sized municipalities

    Reifenstahl, T., Augenstein, K. & Möller, S., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Ground beetle fauna of flower strips and forest edges in northern German lowlands’ conventional agricultural landscapes (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

    Grabener, S., Boutaud, E., Drees, C., Gürlich, S., Härdtle, W., Husemann, L., Kubiak, M., Laschke, C. J., Remmers, S., Zumstein, P. & Assmann, T., 2025, In: Biodiversity Data Journal. 13, e161282.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Accepted/In press

    Habitat and land-use intensity shape moth community structure across temperate forest and grassland

    Achury, R., Staab, M., Seibold, S., Müller, J., Heidrich, L., Püls, M., Hacker, H., Fonseca, C. R., Fischer, M., Blüthgen, N. & Weisser, W., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Animal Ecology.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published
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Researchers

  1. Adriana Ackerschott