What is Sustainability Management in Spatial Development?

Many of our habits in life, consumption, and production are reaching their limits. We consume a lot of land, emit CO2, and pollute water bodies and soils with harmful substances. Climate change poses significant challenges not only to agriculture and forestry but also to tourism, sports, and recreation. The goal of sustainable trade is to enable a dignified life while preserving the natural foundations of life. The 17 global goals for sustainable development provide a roadmap for this. But in many areas, the economy and society are changing only slowly. Although we know that change is necessary, the transition to sustainability is difficult. The question is how the change – the transformation – towards sustainability can succeed.

The Sustainability Management in Spatial Development program contributes to ensuring that necessary societal change can be shaped regionally. For this, our students learn how to find local responses to global challenges such as demographic change, loss of biodiversity, climate change, overtourism, income losses, or negative settlement effects together with people, businesses, administrations, and politics. They learn to understand complex problem situations, develop practical solutions, and implement feasible ideas together with local stakeholders. Our students become experts in sustainability transformation in rural areas, thereby contributing to the preservation of quality of life.