Leuphana University Lüneburg

As a university for the civil society of the 21st century, Leuphana University Lüneburg seeks to address, analyse, accompany, and shape the great transformations of our time. The principles of humanism, sustainability and action orientation are corner stones of Leuphana’s mission. Sustainability as a guiding principle spans Leuphana’s activities across campus operation (climate-neutral university since 2014), teaching, research as well as societal engagement.

Leuphana University Lüneburg is a public university in Lower Saxony and belongs to the medium-sized universities in Germany. Its research priorities lie in the fields of Education, Culture, Sustainability, and Management & Entrepreneurship. In teaching, Leuphana has established a strongly interdisciplinary – and in Germany unique – study model with three schools: a college for bachelor's studies, a graduate school for master's and doctoral studies, and a professional school for continuing education. In 2010, Leuphana was one of the first universities in Europe to establish a faculty of sustainability.

Sustainability researchers at Leuphana analyse current sustainability challenges and contribute with their inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching to transformation processes for a sustainable development. They focus on complex interactions between social agents on different levels (individuals, organisations, society) and the physical foundations of social coexistence (biotic and abiotic resources). In particular, sustainability research at Leuphana is located in the following areas which also correspond to specific institutes at the faculty of sustainability:

  • Ecology
  • Sustainable Chemistry
  • Sustainability Education and Psychology
  • Social-Ecological Systems
  • Sustainability Governance
  • Sustainability Management
  • Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research

In accordance with inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, sustainability research at Leuphana seeks to involve various actors, such as local communities, schools, companies, NGOs, or political decision-makers. Leuphana maintains strategic cooperations with international and regional partners such as the University of Arizona (Center for Global Sustainability and Cultural Transformation), the University of Glasgow (European Centre for Advanced Studies), the City University of Hong Kong, Hamburg University of Technology, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Centre for Materials and Coastal Research, and the Hamburg Media School. The university is a member of various networks, e.g., the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes (GCSO), and a co-host of the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN).

The research and work of Leuphana University Lüneburg mainly contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17: