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

    Antineoplastic compounds in the environment: Substances of special concern

    Kümmerer, K., Haiß, A., Schuster, A., Hein, A. & Ebert, I., 01.08.2016, In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 23, 15, p. 14791–14804 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Antimicrobial activity of pharmaceutical cocktails in sewage treatment plant effluent: An experimental and predictive approach to mixture risk assessment

    Menz, J., Baginska, E., Arrhenius, Å., Haiß, A., Backhaus, T. & Kümmerer, K., 01.12.2017, In: Environmental Pollution. 231, 2, p. 1507-1517 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Anticipating and transforming futures: a literature review on transdisciplinary coastal research in the Global South

    Baumann, L., Riechers, M., Celliers, L. & Ferse, S. C. A., 17.12.2023, In: Ecosystems and People. 19, 1, 16 p., 2288957.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment

    Kümmerer, K., 07.12.2011, Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment. Keen, P. & Montforts, M. (eds.). 1. ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., p. 325-335 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  5. Published

    Antibiotics and sweeteners in the aquatic environment: biodegradability, formation of phototransformation products, and in vitro toxicity

    Bergheim, M., Gminski, R., Spangenberg, B., Debiak, M., Bürkle, A., Mersch-Sundermann, V., Kümmerer, K. & Gieré, R., 01.11.2015, In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 22, 22, p. 18017-18030 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published
  7. Published

    Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition alters growth responses of European beech (Fagus sylvativa L.) to climate change

    Hess, C., Niemeyer, T., Fichtner, A., Jansen, K., Kunz, M., Maneke, M., von Wehrden, H., Quante, M., Walmsley, D., von Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 02.2018, In: Environmental Pollution. 233, p. 92-98 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Anthropogenic influenced distribution of pollutants in flood plains

    Brock, J. & Urban, B., 2006, Shaping the earth's surface: dynamics and changing environments: International Conference 2006 and 96th Annual Meeting of the Geologische Vereinigung E.V., September 25-29, 2006, Postdam, Germany : Programme and Abstracts. Safaricz, M. (ed.). Berlin: GeoUnion Alfred-Wegener-Stiftung, p. 35-36 2 p. (Terra Nostra: Schriften der GeoUnion Alfred-Wegener-Stiftung ; no. 03/2006).

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

  9. Published

    Ant community structure during forest succession in a subtropical forest in South-East China

    Staab, M., Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T., Bruelheide, H. & Klein, A.-M., 01.11.2014, In: Acta Oecologica. 61, p. 32-40 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Anständig Geld verdienen? Eine protestantische Wirtschaftsethik

    Oermann, N. O., 2014, 1 ed. Freiburg: Herder Verlag. 389 p. (Herder Spektrum; vol. 6571)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch