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

    Umweltverschmutzung durch Licht: Die Ausweisung von Lichtschutzgebieten als Instrument zur Reduktion von Lichtimmissionen

    Borchers, K. C. & Schomerus, T., 09.2015, In: Natur und Recht. 37, 9, p. 614-621 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Agro-ecosystem services and dis-services in almond orchards are differentially influenced by the surrounding landscape

    Schäckermann, J., Pufal, G., Mandelik, Y. & Klein, A. M., 01.09.2015, In: Ecological Entomology. 40, S1, p. 12-21 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Early subtropical forest growth is driven by community mean trait values and functional diversity rather than the abiotic environment

    Kröber, W., Li, Y., Härdtle, W., Ma, K., Schmid, B., Schmidt, K., Scholten, T., Seidler, G., von Oheimb, G., Welk, E., Wirth, C. & Bruehlheide, H., 01.09.2015, In: Ecology and Evolution. 5, 17, p. 3541-3556 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Evaluation of the toxic effects of four anti-cancer drugs in plant bioassays and its potency for screening in the context of waste water reuse for irrigation

    Lutterbeck, C. A., Kern, D. I., Machado, Ê. L. & Kümmerer, K., 01.09.2015, In: Chemosphere. 135, p. 403-410 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Forgetting fire: Traditional fire knowledge in two chestnut forest ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula and its implications for European fire management policy

    Seijo, F., Millington, J. D. A., Gray, R., Sanz, V., Lozano Mendoza, J., García-Serrano, F., Sangüesa-Barreda, G. & Julio Camarero, J., 01.09.2015, In: Land Use Policy. 47, p. 130-144 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Groundwater abstraction for irrigation and its impacts on low flows in a watershed in Northwest Germany

    Wittenberg, H., 01.09.2015, In: Resources. 4, 3, p. 566-576 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Nachhaltiges Unternehmertum: Unterschätzter Nachhaltigkeitstransformator von Märkten und Regionen

    Schaltegger, S., Hansen, E. G. & Lüdeke-Freund, F., 01.09.2015, In: Ökologisches Wirtschaften. 30, 3, p. 21-23 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published
  10. Published

    The private sector in climate governance: Opportunities for climate compatible development through multilevel industry-government engagement

    Mildorfová-Leventon, J., Dyer, J. C. & Van Alstine, J. D., 01.09.2015, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 102, p. 316 - 323 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Carbon Management Accounting and Reporting in Practice: A Case Study on Converging Emergent Approaches

    Gibassier, D. & Schaltegger, S., 07.09.2015, In: Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. 6, 3, p. 340-365 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review