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. 2016
  2. Published

    Importance of actors and agency in sustainability transitions: A systematic exploration of the literature

    Fischer, L. B. & Newig, J., 13.05.2016, In: Sustainability. 8, 5, 21 p., 476.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Thermal synthesis of a thermochemical heat storage with heat exchanger optimization

    Fopah Lele, A., Kuznik, F., Osterland, T. & Ruck, W., 25.05.2016, In: Applied Thermal Engineering. 101, p. 669-677 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Environmental fate and effect assessment of thioridazine and its transformation products formed by photodegradation

    Wilde, M. L., Menz, J., Trautwein, C., Leder, C. & Kümmerer, K., 06.2016, In: Environmental Pollution. 213, p. 658-670 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Freiheit als Wert? Neue Beobachtungen zu einer alten Debatte

    Oermann, N. O., 06.2016, In: Orientierungen zur Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftspolitik. 143, p. 18-25 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesEducationpeer-review

  6. Published

    Renewable Energy: support mechanisms

    Schomerus, T., 06.2016, Climate Change Law. Farber, D. & Peeters, M. (eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 465-475 11 p. (Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law series; no. 1).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaTransfer

  7. Published

    Anatomical and neuromuscular variables strongly predict maximum knee extension torque in healthy men

    Trezise, J., Collier, N. & Blazevich, A. J., 01.06.2016, In: European Journal of Applied Physiology. 116, 6, p. 1159-1177 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Are women graduates jacquelines-of-all-trades? Challenging Lazear's view on entrepreneurship

    Tegtmeier, S., Kurczewska, A. & Halberstadt, J., 01.06.2016, In: Small Business Economics. 47, 1, p. 77-94 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Combustion at the late Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Murcia, Spain)

    Walker, M. J., Anesin, D., Angelucci, D. E., Avilés-Fernández, A., Berna, F., Buitrago-López, A. T., Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Haber-Uriarte, M., López-Jiménez, A., López-Martínez, M., Martín-Lerma, I., Ortega-Rodrigáñez, J., Polo-Camacho, J. L., Rhodes, S. E., Richter, D., Rodríguez-Estrella, T., Schwenninger, J. L. & Skinner, A. R., 01.06.2016, In: Antiquity. 90, 351, p. 571-589 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Diversity and specificity of host-natural enemy interactions in an urban-rural interface

    Pereira-Peixoto, M. H., Pufal, G., Staab, M., Feitosa Martins, C. & Klein, A. M., 01.06.2016, In: Ecological Entomology. 41, 3, p. 241-252 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Exploring the Capacity of Water Framework Directive Indices to Assess Ecosystem Services in Fluvial and Riparian Systems: Towards a Second Implementation Phase

    Vidal-Abarca, M. R., Santos-Martín, F., Martín-López, B., Sánchez-Montoya, M. M. & Suárez Alonso, M. L., 01.06.2016, In: Environmental Management. 57, 6, p. 1139-1152 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review