Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft - Sustainability Science

Sustainable development counts worldwide as one of the central social challenges for the twenty-first century—this much is beyond dispute. Yet, it remains unclear in which direction, within which social and ecological framework, and with which strategy sustainable development can move forward. These questions form the starting point for our interdisciplinary, research-oriented and problem-specific Master’s degree.

Content and Idea

A distinctive characteristic of the Sustainability Sciences program is its balance between the natural and human sciences. Our goal is an academically grounded as well as interdisciplinarily balanced consideration of social-ecological systems. From the perspective of the natural sciences, we will examine processes that form the material and energy basis for sustainability problems, as well as consider sources for potential solutions. In complex social-ecological systems these material processes are closely integrated with economic, legal, political and cultural contexts as well as with strategies and practices of important social actors. These immaterial conditions and assumptions constitute the human side of sustainability sciences.

Course Structure

The program begins with an introduction to the many disciplines of sustainability studies. The common assumptions of the natural and human sciences are laid out in the first semester’s introductory module. In the subsequent semesters, you can select two modules to strengthen your specialization within the individual disciplines.

In keeping with the profile of Leuphana University and the Department of Sustainability Studies in particular, the degree’s integration phase expands the program’s disciplinary focus to include an over-arching and problem-specific perspective: the integration phase pulls together the human and natural science tracks into a module designed as an interdisciplinary feasibility study.