The Interdisciplinary Center for Sustainable Development IZNE deals with the ecological, economic and social aspects of sustainable development in research and education. The centre aims to contribute to harmonizing the aims of preserving the living world with a human society and an adequate economic development.

Ten departments from seven different faculties (Agricultural Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences and Geography, Social Sciences, Economics and Medicine) at the Georg August University are involved in ICSD. The first bioenergy village in Germany was established in 2008 in the course of the project “The Bioenergy Village – Requirements and Consequences of a Self-sufficient Heat and Electricity Supply through Biomass for Agriculture, Ecology and Lifestyle in a Rural Environment”. The implementation of the project was supported and advised by researchers at the ICSD over 8 years. Currently, the centre is overseeing two projects which examine the sustainable use of energy from biomass and promotion of a sustainable business culture.