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. 2011
  2. Published

    Opportunities and Drawbacks of Mobile Flood Protection Systems

    Koppe, B. & Brinkmann, B., 02.02.2011, In: Coastal Engineering Proceedings. 1, 32, 14 p., 24.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Genetic erosion in a stenotopic heathland ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae): a matter of habitat size ?

    Drees, C., Vries, H., Härdtle, W., Matern, A., Persigehl, M. & Aßmann, T., 01.02.2011, In: Conservation Genetics. 12, 1, p. 105-117 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Individual-tree radial growth in a subtropical broad-leaved forest: The role of local neighbourhood competition

    von Oheimb, G., Lang, A. C., Bruelheide, H., Forrester, D. I., Waesche, I., Yu, M. & Haerdtle, W., 01.02.2011, In: Forest Ecology and Management. 261, 3, p. 499-507 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Repeated sampling detects gene flow in a flightless ground beetle in a fragmented landscape

    Drees, C., Hüfner, S., Matern, A., Nève, G. & Aßmann, T., 01.02.2011, In: Hereditas. 148, 1, p. 36-45 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Bifunctional recombinant protein SDF1-GPVI as a new therapeutic concept for improved regeneration

    Ziegler, M., Baumer, Y., Leder, C., Schönberger, T., Elvers, M., Schlosshauer, B. & Gawaz, M., 02.2011, BioStar 2010 - Science in Exchange: Meeting Abstracts. TERMIS, p. 553-554 2 p. (Tissue Engineering Part A; vol. 17, no. 3/4).

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

  7. Published

    Community assembly during secondary forest succession in a Chinese subtropical forest

    Bruelheide, H., Böhnke, M., Both, S., Fang, T., Aßmann, T., Baruffol, M., Bauhus, J., Buscot, F., Chen, X.-Y., Ding, B.-Y., Durka, W., Erfmeier, A., Fischer, M., Geißler, C., Guo, D., Guo, L.-D., Härdtle, W., He, J.-S., Hector, A., Kröber, W., Kühn, P., Lang, A. C., Nadrowski, K., Pei, K., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Shi, X., Scholten, T., Schuldt, A., Trogisch, S., Oheimb, G., Welk, E., Wirth, C., Wu, Y.-T., Yang, X., Zeng, X., Zhang, S., Zhou, H., Ma, K. & Schmid, B., 02.2011, In: Ecological Monographs. 81, 1, p. 25-41 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Experimentieren mit Modellen

    Möller, A., 02.2011, In: Umweltinformatik - Newsletter. 48, p. 8-11 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Irreversibility, ignorance, and the intergenerational equity-efficieny trade-off

    Hoberg, N. & Baumgärtner, S., 02.2011, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 32 p. (University of Lüneburg Working Paper Series in Economics; no. 198).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  10. Published

    Landfills as sources of polyfluorinated compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and musk fragrances to ambient air

    Weinberg, I., Dreyer, A. & Ebinghaus, R., 02.2011, In: Atmospheric Environment. 45, 4, p. 935-941 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. 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