School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- 2019
- Published
Multiple plant diversity components drive consumer communities across ecosystems
Schuldt, A., Ebeling, A., Kunz, M., Staab, M., Guimarães-Steinicke, C., Bachmann, D., Buchmann, N., Durka, W., Fichtner, A., Fornoff, F., Härdtle, W., Hertzog, L., Klein, A.-M., Roscher, C., Schaller, J., von Oheimb, G., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W. W., Wirth, C., Zhang, J., Bruelheide, H. & Eisenhauer, N., 01.12.2019, In: Nature Communications. 10, 1, 11 p., 1460.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Neighbour species richness and local structural variability modulate aboveground allocation patterns and crown morphology of individual trees
Kunz, M., Fichtner, A., Härdtle, W., Raumonen, P., Bruelheide, H. & von Oheimb, G., 01.12.2019, In: Ecology Letters. 22, 12, p. 2130-2140 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Phosphorus status, use and recycling in a Chinese peri-urban region with intensive animal husbandry and cropping systems: Results from case study in a Sino-German applied research collaboration project
Roelcke, M., Heimann, L., Hou, Y., Guo, J., Xue, Q., Jia, W., Ostermann, A., Huaitalla, R. M., Engbers, M., Olbrich, C., Scholz, R. W., Clemens, J., Schuchardt, F., Nieder, R., Liu, X. & Zhang, F., 01.12.2019, In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 6, 4, p. 388-402 15 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Scientific review articles › Research
- Published
Purchasing unpackaged food products: An empirical analysis of personal norms and contextual barriers
Marken, G. H. & Hörisch, J., 01.12.2019, In: NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum. 27, 3-4, p. 165-175 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Root trait plasticity and plant nutrient acquisition in phosphorus limited soil
Kumar, A., Shahbaz, M., Koirala, M., Blagodatskaya, E., Seidel, S. J., Kuzyakov, Y. & Pausch, J., 01.12.2019, In: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science. 182, 6, p. 945-952 8 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
The impacts of social-ecological system change on human-nature connectedness: A case study from Transylvania, Romania
Balázsi, Á., Riechers, M., Hartel, T., Leventon, J. & Fischer, J., 01.12.2019, In: Land Use Policy. 89, 104232.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
The Role of Linked Social-Ecological Systems in a Mobile Agent-Based Ecosystem Service from Giant Honey Bees (Apis dorsata) in an Indigenous Community Forest in Palawan, Philippines
Matias, D. M. S., Borgemeister, C., Sémah, A. M. & von Wehrden, H., 01.12.2019, In: Human Ecology. 47, 6, p. 905-915 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Tomato plants rather than fertilizers drive microbial community structure in horticultural growing media
Grunert, O., Robles Aguilar, A. A., Hernandez-Sanabria, E., Schrey, S., Reheul, D., Van Labeke, M.-C., Vlaeminck, S. E., Vandekerckhove, T. G. L., Mysara, M., Monsieurs, P., Temperton, V., Boon, N. & Jablonowski, N., 01.12.2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 15 p., 9561 .Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Urban areas and urban-rural contrasts under climate change: What does the EURO-CORDEX ensemble tell us?-Investigating near surface humidity in berlin and its surroundings
Langendijk, G. S., Rechid, D. & Jacob, D., 01.12.2019, In: Atmosphere. 10, 12, 22 p., 730.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
'Where is everybody?' An empirical appraisal of occurrence, prevalence and sustainability of technological species in the Universe
Engler, J. O. & Von Wehrden, H., 01.12.2019, In: International Journal of Astrobiology. 18, 6, p. 495-501 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review