Dr. Katja Brundiers serves as the Co-Director of the Transformational Sustainability Science Group since 2024. Prior to that, she worked for 15 years (2009-2024) at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University (US), most recently as Professor (Clinical Associate Professor) of Sustainability (2017-2024). Katja Brundiers’ foci in sustainability research are on sustainability education, transdisciplinary science-practice interface management, and sustainability and disasters. For the latter, she explores sustainability and disasters. For the latter, she explores how opportunities for sustainability can be realized in dealing with disasters, especially heat disasters. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Brundiers worked at the Federal Office for Spatial Development,, as a consultant for a project management company in the field of regional development and headed the non-profit organization Seed Sustainability, a “boundary organization” for transdisciplinary sustainability research projects by students at Swiss universities.
As Co-Director of the TSS group, Dr. Brundiers combines her academic experiences and practical work experiences in public and private sectors to inform the TSS Group research on managing science-practice partnerships, supporting educational program development on sustainability solutions, and assessing sustainable heat mitigation measures.
Ph.D., Sustainability, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University (US), 2016
M.Sc., Geography, Universität Zürich, (CH), 2003
Director, Regional Center of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development Phoenix, Tempe (US), 2023-2024
Clinical Associate Professor, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University (US), 2022-2024
Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University (US), 2019-2022
Visiting Professor, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg (DE), 2021-2022
Co-lead, Global Council for Science on the Environment’s Initiative “Pathway Towards Accreditation of Sustainability-Related Programs in Higher Education”(US), 2018-2023
Guest Professor, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (DE), 2018
Guest Professor, Utrecht University, (NL), 2018
Research Assistant Professor, School of Sustainability, Arizona State University (US), 2017-2019
Research Professor, Arizona State University (US), 2014 -2016
Academic Professional (Community-University Liaison), Arizona State University (US), 2009-2013
Consultant for Seed Sustainability, ETH Zürich (CH) & University of British Columbia (CA) (2007-2008)
Director, Seed Sustainability, ETH Zürich (CH), 2006-2007
Consultant at the Federal Office for Spatial Development, Bern (CH), 2003
Seminar: “Perspectives in Global Sustainability Science”
Capstone “Sustainability Leadership”
Course: “Professional Skills in Sustainability”
Sustainability Science Research
Manuel-Navarrete, D., Grauer, C., Chilisa, B., Brundiers, K., Abidin Bin Sanusi, Z., Seidel, T., Tolksdorf, F., J. Lang, D.J., (2025). Inclusive Transdisciplinarity: Embracing Diverse Ways of Being and Knowing through Inner Work, Ecology & Society.
Sahle, M., Lahoti, S.A., Lee, S.Y., et al. (2025). Reprioritizing the sustainability science research agenda. Sustainability Science, 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01586-3
Brundiers, K., Wiek, A., & Kay, B. (2013). The Role of Transacademic Interface Managers in Transformational Sustainability Research and Education. Sustainability, 5(11), 4614–4636. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5114614
Sustainability Science Education
Brundiers, K., Barth, M., Cebrián, G., et al. (2020). Key competencies in sustainability in higher education—Toward an agreed-upon reference framework. Sustainability Science, 16(1), 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00838-2
Brundiers, K., & Wiek, A. (2017). Beyond Interpersonal Competence: Teaching and Learning Professional Skills in Sustainability. Education Sciences, 7(1), 39. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7010039
Brundiers, K., & Wiek, A. (2013). Do We Teach What We Preach? An International Comparison of Problem- and Project-Based Learning Courses in Sustainability. Sustainability, 5(4), 1725–1746. https://doi.org/10.3390/su5041725
King, J., Brundiers, K., & Fischer, D. (2024). Student agency in a sustainability-oriented assessment process: exploring expansive learning in student-led rubric co-design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 49(6), 851–863. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2024.2333031
Brundiers, K., Coseo, P., Fisher, B., Brumfield, E., Kay, B. (2025). Cool Kids, Cool Places, Cool Futures: From individual responsibility to extreme heat to collective responsibility for community resilience. Final Report to Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Arizona State University & City of Tempe, AZ, USA (link to report)
Brundiers, K., & Wiek, A., (2024). Nachhaltigkeitsausbildung im Zeitalter von anhaltenden Krisen und Dringlichkeit [Sustainability education in an era of recurring crises and urgency]. In: A. Carrapatoso, V. Reinhardt, M. Rehm, & M. Willhelm (Eds). Wirksamer Unterricht in Bildung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) [Effective Pedagogies for Education for Sustainable Development], Band 19. Hohengehren: Schneider Verlag. https://elibrary.utb.de/doi/book/10.3278/9783763977277
Brundiers, K. (2020). Leveraging Disasters for Sustainable Development. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 62(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2020.1687226