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. 2012
  2. Published

    The relationship between intragenerational and intergenerational ecological justice

    Baumgärtner, S. & Glotzbach, S., 08.2012, In: Environmental Values. 21, 3, p. 331-355 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Gestion des Ressources en Eau dans le Bassin de la Sandougou-Sénégal: étude des dynamiques sociales pour un modèle d'organisation et de gestion durable des ressources en eau

    Fopah Lele, A., 30.07.2012, 1 ed. Saarbrücken: Éditions Universitaires Européenes. 100 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsEducationpeer-review

  4. Published

    Global food security, biodiversity conservation and the future of agricultural intensification

    Tscharntke, T., Clough, Y., Wanger, T. C., Jackson, L., Motzke, I., Perfecto, I., Vandermeer, J. & Whitbread, A., 07.2012, In: Biological Conservation. 151, 1, p. 53-59 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Paying Attention to Environmental Pay-Offs: The Case of an Indonesian Textile Manufacturer

    Schaltegger, S., Viere, T. & Zvezdov, D., 07.2012, In: International Journal of Global Environmental Issues. 12, 1, p. 56-75 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Plant traits affecting herbivory on tree recruits in highly diverse subtropical forests

    Schuldt, A., Bruelheide, H., Durka, W., Eichenberg, D., Fischer, M., Kröber, W., Härdtle, W., Ma, K., Michalski, S. G., Palm, W.-U., Schmid, B., Welk, E., Zhou, H. & Assmann, T., 07.2012, In: Ecology Letters. 15, 7, p. 732-739 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Tapping Environmental Accounting Potentials of Beer Brewing: Information Needs for Successful Cleaner Production

    Schaltegger, S., Viere, T. & Zvezdov, D., 07.2012, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 29-30, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    The same, but different: Pollen foraging in honeybee and bumblebee colonies.

    Leonhardt, S. & Blüthgen, N., 07.2012, In: Apidologie. 43, 4, p. 449-464 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Transdisciplinarity: Between mainstreaming and marginalization

    Jahn, T., Bergmann, M. & Keil, F., 07.2012, In: Ecological Economics. 79, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Welche Milch für unsere Küche? Kriterien für Konsumentscheidungen in der Kita

    Offen, S., 07.2012, In: Theorie und Praxis der Sozialpädagogik. 7, p. 37-39 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  11. Published

    Welche Rolle können Commons in Transformationsprozessen zu Nachhaltigkeit spielen?

    von Winterfeld , U., Biesecker, A., Katz, C. & Best, B., 07.2012, Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie, 50 p. (Impulse zur Wachstumswende; vol. 6).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers