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. 2014
  2. Published

    Estimation of physicochemical properties of 52 non-PBDE brominated flame retardants and evaluation of their overall persistence and long-range transport potential

    Kuramochi, H., Takigami, H., Scheringer, M. & Sakai, S.-I., 01.09.2014, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 491-492, 9, p. 108-117 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Non-native tree species (Pseudotsuga menziesii) strongly decreases predator biomass and abundance in mixed-species plantations of a tree diversity experiment

    Schuldt, A. & Scherer-Lorenzen, M., 01.09.2014, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 327, 1, p. 10-17 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Site and neighborhood effects on growth of tree saplings in subtropical plantations (China).

    Li, Y., Härdtle, W., Bruehlheide, H., Nadrowski, K., Scholten, T., von Wehrden, H. & Oheimb, G., 01.09.2014, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 327, p. 118-127 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Occurrence of the antidiabetic drug Metformin and its ultimate transformation product Guanylurea in several compartments of the aquatic cycle

    Trautwein, C., Berset, J.-D., Wolschke, H. & Kümmerer, K., 09.2014, In: Environmental international. 70, p. 203-212 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Woody plant phylogenetic diversity mediates bottom-up control of arthropod biomass in species-rich forests

    Schuldt, A., Baruffol, M., Bruelheide, H., Chen, S., Chi, X., Wall, M. & Aßmann, T., 09.2014, In: Oecologia. 176, 1, p. 171-182 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Environmental side effects of pharmaceutical cocktails: What we know and what we should know

    Vasquez, M. I., Lambrianides, A., Schneider, M., Kümmerer, K. & Fatta-Kassinos, D., 30.08.2014, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 279, p. 169-189 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Organizational Transformation and Higher Sustainability Management Education. The case of the MBA Sustainability Management

    Lee, K.-H. & Schaltegger, S., 26.08.2014, In: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 15, 4, p. 450-472 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Barley (Hordeum distichon L.) roots produce volatile aldehydes derived from the lipoxygenase/hydroperoxide lyase pathway with a strong age-dependent pattern

    Delory, B., Delaplace, P., du Jardin, P. & Fauconnier, M.-L., 13.08.2014, 53rd Annual Meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America: Aug. 9-13, 2014. North Carolina State University, p. 56 1 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksPublished abstract in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Die EU-Holzhandelsverordnung: Ein wirksames Instrument zur Bekämpfung des illegalen Holzhandels?

    Sieveking, A., 12.08.2014, In: Natur und Recht. 36, 8 , p. 542-548 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review