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. Published

    Tree diversity promotes generalist herbivore community patterns in a young subtropical forest experiment

    Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H., Chen, X., Eichenberg, D., Kröber, W., Xu, X., Xu, L. & Schuldt, A., 01.02.2017, In: Oecologia. 183, 2, p. 455-467 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Tree diversity promotes insect herbivory in subtropical forests of south-east China

    Schuldt, A., Baruffol, M., Boehnke, M., Bruelheide, H., Härdtle, W., Lang, A. C., Nadrowski, K., von Oheimb, G., Voigt, W., Zhou, H. & Aßmann, T., 07.2010, In: Journal of Ecology. 98, 4, p. 917-926 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Tree diversity promotes predator but not omnivore ants in a subtropical Chinese forest

    Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T. & Klein, A.-M., 10.2014, In: Ecological Entomology. 39, 5, p. 637-647 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Tree diversity promotes predatory wasps and parasitoids but not pollinator bees in a subtropical experimental forest

    Guo, P. F., Wang, M. Q., Orr, M., Li, Y., Chen, J. T., Zhou, Q. S., Staab, M., Fornoff, F., Chen, G. H., Zhang, N. L., Klein, A. M. & Zhu, C. D., 06.2021, In: Basic and Applied Ecology. 53, p. 134-142 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Tree morphology responds to neighbourhood competition and slope in species-rich forests of subtropical China

    Lang, A. C., Haerdtle, W., Bruelheide, H., Geissler, C., Nadrowski, K., Schuldt, A., Yu, M. & von Oheimb, G., 15.10.2010, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 260, 10, p. 1708-1715 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Tree neighbourhood diversity increases community productivity and growth stability under contrasting climatic regimes

    Schnabel, F., Schwarz, J. A., Danescu, A., Fichtner, A., Nock, C., Bauhus, J. & Potvin, C., 30.08.2019, In: Brazilian Journal of Forestry Research. 39, Special Issue, p. 149-149 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearch

  7. Published

    Tree phylogenetic diversity structures multitrophic communities

    Staab, M., Liu, X., Assmann, T., Bruelheide, H., Buscot, F., Durka, W., Erfmeier, A., Klein, A. M., Ma, K., Michalski, S., Wubet, T., Schmid, B. & Schuldt, A., 01.02.2021, In: Functional Ecology. 35, 2, p. 521-534 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Tree resin composition, collection behavior and selective filters shape chemical profiles of tropical bees (Apidae: Meliponini)

    Leonhardt, S. D., Schmitt, T. & Blüthgen, N., 08.08.2011, In: PLoS ONE. 6, 8, 10 p., e23445.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Trees in the desert: Reproduction and genetic structure of fragmented Ulmus pumila forests in Mongolian drylands

    Wesche, K., Walther, D., von Wehrden, H. & Hensen, I., 02.2011, In: Flora. 206, 2, p. 91-99 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Tree species and functional traits but not species richness affect interrill erosion processes in young subtropical forests

    Seitz, S., Goebes, P., Song, Z., Bruehlheide, H., Härdtle, W., Kühn, P., Li, Y. & Scholten, T., 21.01.2016, In: SOIL. 2, 1, p. 49-61 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review