Organisation profile

Sustainability has many facets. Inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching characterize the School of Sustainability. Scientists in our research projects work together in the laboratory, on the heath, in the grassland, in the classroom, with the city administration, with farmers, with non-governmental organizations, with companies, with students in the lecture hall and of course at their desks.

Furthermore, we work with regional and national political actors, e.g. ministries, as well as international organizations, e.g. UNEP, UNESCO, EU. We are part of national and international bodies, e.g. sustainability advisory boards of companies, member of the German Sustainability Award, World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), in order to contribute to social change with scientific findings.

Main research areas

Vision
Sustainability science investigates on a theoretical, conceptual and empirical level how to promote sustainable development and how to find and implement effective solutions for current social and ecological challenges. The aim is to create a more sustainable future.

Sustainability researchers are called upon to take responsibility for their research, which is anchored in existing scientific knowledge and methods and serves to make the world a better place for everyone.

Mission
We promote change towards a sustainable future by developing theories, concepts and practices of inclusive education for sustainability, research, governance and management.

We acknowledge the diversity and dynamics of values, norms and behaviour and contribute with transdisciplinary methods to ensuring that tensions and differences between different disciplines, methods, topics and standards are fruitfully taken up and used with productive compromises and further developments towards sustainable development.

Principles
The School of Sustainability is guided by the normative concepts of ecological system integrity and social and economic justice.

Ecological system integrity refers to the safeguarding of life-support systems, as well as the maintenance of the well-being of life on Earth.

With social and economic justice we strive for a world in which all people can fulfil their potential without endangering system integrity and the well-being of others.

Information about the School
The School of Sustainability includes...
... ca. 25 professors
... ca. 100 research assistants
... ca. 1000 students in Bachelor and Master courses

In various inter- and transdisciplinary projects we are constantly researching and working together on changes and solutions for current challenges.

  1. 2014
  2. Published

    Non-native tree species (Pseudotsuga menziesii) strongly decreases predator biomass and abundance in mixed-species plantations of a tree diversity experiment

    Schuldt, A. & Scherer-Lorenzen, M., 01.09.2014, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 327, 1, p. 10-17 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Site and neighborhood effects on growth of tree saplings in subtropical plantations (China).

    Li, Y., Härdtle, W., Bruehlheide, H., Nadrowski, K., Scholten, T., von Wehrden, H. & Oheimb, G., 01.09.2014, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 327, p. 118-127 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Biofuel Sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of recent Experiences and Future Prospects

    Bailis, R., Solomon, B. D., Moser, C. & Hildebrandt, T., 03.09.2014, In: Biofuels. 5, 5, p. 469-485 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Ecotoxicological evaluation of selected anticancer drugs

    Lutterbeck, C., Kern, D. I., Machado, Ê. L. & Kümmerer, K., 10.09.2014, In: Toxicology Letters. 229, Supplement, p. S71-S72 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Evaluation of the effects of four cytotoxic compounds against plant seedlings

    Lutterbeck, C., Kern, D. I., Machado, Ê. L. & Kümmerer, K., 10.09.2014, In: Toxicology Letters. 229, Supplement, p. S71-S71 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Pflege von Heidelandschaften

    Härdtle, W. & Oheimb, G., 10.09.2014, Re-Naturierung: Gesellschaft im Einklang mit der Natur. 1 ed. Stuttgart: S. Hirzel Verlag, p. 56-61 6 p. (Jahrbuch Ökologie; vol. 2015).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Heteroaggregation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles with model natural colloids under environmentally relevant conditions

    Praetorius, A., Labille, J., Scheringer, M., Thill, A., Hungerbühler, K. & Bottero, J.-Y., 16.09.2014, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 48, 18, p. 10690-10698 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Rational Socially Responsible Investment

    Peylo, B. T., 30.09.2014, In: Corporate Governance. 14, 5, p. 699-713 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Solution for spillway chute aeration through bottom aerators

    Fuhrhop, H., Schulz, H. E. & Wittenberg, H., 30.09.2014, In: International Journal of Computational Methods and Experimental Measurements. 2, 3, p. 298-312 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Using ecological and life-history characteristics for projecting species' responses to climate change

    Pompe, S., Hanspach, J., Badeck, F.-W., Klotz, S., Bruelheide, H. & Kühn, I., 30.09.2014, In: Frontiers of Biogeography . 6, 3, p. 119-131 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review