School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- 2025
- Published
Temporal changes in taxonomic and functional alpha and beta diversity across tree communities in subtropical Atlantic forests
Freitag Kramer, J. M., Bordin, K. M., Bergamin, R. S., Klipel, J., Picolotto, R. C., Zanini, K. J., Zwiener, V. P. & Müller, S. C., 06.2025, In: Oikos. 2025, 6, 15 p., e10961.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
The Challenge of Introducing Sustainability-Oriented Innovation—An Ethnographic Study
Śliwińska, I., Beńko, P., Breuer, H., Ciesielska, M., Ivanov, K., Kasz, J. & Matras-Postołek, K., 06.2025, In: Sustainable Development. 33, 3, p. 4191-4203 13 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Welcome home! Introducing SocSES: a society for inclusive and impactful social-ecological research
de Vos, A., Quinlan, A., Biggs, R., Bennett, E. M., Martín-López, B., Norström, A. V., Peterson, G. D., Schoon, M., Allen, C. R., Andersson, E., Baird, J., Berbés-Blázquez, M., Berkes, F., Calderon-Contreras, R., Carpenter, S. R., Castro, A. J., Cumming, G. S., Falardeau, M., Liebrecht Fick, W., Folke, C., Galang, E. I. N. E., Gelcich, S., Gordon, L. J., Grimm, N. B., Hamilton, J., Hodbod, J., Speranza, C. I., Koch, L., Kosanic, A., Lembi, R., Locatelli, B., Malmborg, K., Manyani, A., Mathisonslee, M., Ocampo-Melgar, A., Psiuk, K., Queiroz, C., Riechers, M., Schultz, L., Selomane, O., Sherren, K., Spierenburg, M., Trimble, M., Turkelboom, F. & Wallington, C., 06.2025, In: Ecology and Society. 30, 2, 32.Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Research
- Published
Inquiry-based learning as an approach to realize inclusive science education
Hofer, E. & Abels, S., 29.05.2025, Innovative Teaching and Classroom Processes: Research Perspectives from Germany and China. Ehmke, T. & Chi-Kin Lee, J. (eds.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 74-87 14 p.Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Chapter › peer-review
- Published
Empirically Informed, Idiographic Networks of Concordant and Discordant Motives: An Experience Sampling Study With Network Analysis in Non-Clinical Participants
Lüdtke, T., Steiner, F., Berger, T. & Westermann, S., 28.05.2025, In: Clinical Psychology in Europe. 7, 2, 21 p., e12305.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Utilization of acid whey and oat pomace in succinic acid fermentation
Kleps, C., Malchow, R., Ettinger, J., Dalichow, J., Schneider, R., Venus, J. & Pleissner, D., 25.05.2025, In: New Biotechnology. 86, p. 31-38 8 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- E-pub ahead of print
Polycrisis patterns: applying system archetypes to crisis interactions
Collste, D., Apetrei, C. I., Booth Sweeney, L., Boucher, J. L., Goh, J. C. L., Hamant, O., Mandl, C. E., Martin Mehers, G. S., Oda, R. & De Vries, B. J. M., 20.05.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Global Sustainability. 8, 11 p., e17.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- 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. 61, 2, p. 240-255 16 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Between the lines: linking carbon management to carbon accounting actions in the pursuit of corporate decarbonization
Johnson, M. P., Strobel, J. & Trencher, G., 13.05.2025, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 38, 4, p. 1121-1148 28 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- 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 contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review