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. 2015
  2. Published

    Pollination mitigates cucumber yield gaps more than pesticide and fertilizer use in tropical smallholder gardens

    Motzke, I., Tscharntke, T., Wanger, T. C. & Klein, A. M., 02.2015, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 52, 1, p. 261-269 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Response of a shrubland mammal and reptile community to a history of landscape-scale wildfire

    Doherty, T. S., Davis, R. A., Van Etten, E. J. B., Collier, N. & Krawiec, J., 02.2015, In: International Journal of Wildland Fire. 24, 4, p. 534-543 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    A modeling assessment of the physicochemical properties and environmental fate of emerging and novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances

    Gomis, M. I., Wang, Z., Scheringer, M. & Cousins, I. T., 01.02.2015, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 505, p. 981-991 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Applying a capitals approach to understand rural development traps: A case study from post-socialist Romania

    Mikulcak, F., Haider, J. L., Abson, D., Newig, J. & Fischer, J., 01.02.2015, In: Land Use Policy. 43, 2, p. 248-258 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Biodegradation of the Antituberculosis Drug Isoniazid in the Aquatic Environment

    Sasu, S., Metzger, J., Kranert, M. & Kümmerer, K., 01.02.2015, In: Clean - Soil, Air, Water. 43, 2, p. 166-172 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Clustering Hydrological Homogeneous Regions and Neural Network Based Index Flood Estimation for Ungauged Catchments: an Example of the Chindwin River in Myanmar

    Latt, Z. Z., Wittenberg, H. & Urban, B., 01.02.2015, In: Water Resources Management. 29, 3, p. 913-928 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published
  9. Published

    Effects of free air CO2 enrichment on root growth of barley, sugar beet and wheat grown in a rotation under different nitrogen supply

    Pacholski, A., Manderscheid, R. & Weigel, H.-J., 01.02.2015, In: European Journal of Agronomy. 63, p. 36-46 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Hazard assessment of fluorinated alternatives to long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and their precursors: status quo, ongoing challenges and possible solutions

    Wang, Z., Cousins, I. T., Scheringer, M. & Hungerbuehler, K., 01.02.2015, In: Environmental international. 75, p. 172-179 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Photodegradation of the antineoplastic cyclophosphamide: A comparative study of the efficiencies of UV/H2O2, UV/Fe(2+)/H2O2 and UV/TiO2 processes

    Lutterbeck, C. A., Machado, E. L. & Kümmerer, K., 01.02.2015, In: Chemosphere. 120, p. 538-546 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review