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

    Assessment of the environmental persistence and long-range transport of endosulfan

    Becker, L., Scheringer, M., Schenker, U. & Hungerbühler, K., 01.06.2011, In: Environmental Pollution. 159, 6, p. 1737-1743 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Assessment of the biotic and abiotic elimination processes of five micropollutants during cultivation of the green microalgae Acutodesmus obliquus

    Reymann, T., Kerner, M. & Kümmerer, K., 09.2020, In: Bioresource Technology Reports. 11, 100512.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Assessment of pharmaceutical waste management at selected hospitals and homes in Ghana

    Sasu, S., Kümmerer, K. & Kranert, M., 06.2012, In: Waste Management & Research. 30, 6, p. 625-630 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Assessment of model uncertainty during the river export modelling of pesticides and transformation products

    Gassmann, M., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 2013, 10th EGU General Assembly. European Geosciences Union (EGU), p. 2753 1 p. (Geophysical Research Abstracts; no. 15).

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

  5. Published

    Assessment of key competencies: a conceptual framework

    Barth, M., 2009, World in Transition: Sustainability Perspectives for Higher Education. Adomssent, M., Beringer, A. & Barth, M. (eds.). Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe: VAS Verlag für Akademische Schriften, p. 93-102 10 p. (Higher education for sustainability; no. 4).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  6. Published

    Assessment of genetic diversity among seed transfer zones for multiple grassland plant species across Germany

    Durka, W., Michalski, S. G., Höfner, J., Bucharova, A., Kolář, F., Müller, C. M., Oberprieler, C., Šemberová, K., Bauer, M., Bernt, M., Bleeker, W., Brändel, S., Bucher, S. F., Eibes, P. M., Ewald, M., Goldberg, R., Grant, K., Haider, S., Harpke, A., Haun, F., Kaufmann, R., Korell, L., Kunzmann, D., Lauterbach, D., Leib, S., Lenzewski, N., Loritz, H., Madaj, A. M., Mainz, A. K., Meinecke, P., Mertens, H., Meyer, M. H., Musche, M., Ristow, M., Rosche, C., Roscher, C., Rutte, D., Schacherer, A., Schmidt, W., Schmoldt, J., Schneider, S., Schwarz, J. H., Skowronek, S., Socher, S. A., Stanik, N., Twerski, A., Weiß, K., Weiß, M., Wille, A., Zehm, A. & Zidorn, C., 01.05.2025, In: Basic and Applied Ecology. 84, p. 50-60 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Assessment of Competencies for Sustainability in Secondary Education in Mexico

    Rodríguez-Aboytes, J. G. & Nieto-Caraveo, L. M., 2018, Sustainable Development Research and Practice in Mexico and Selected Latin American Countries. Filho, W. L., Noyola-Cherpitel, R., Medellin-Milan, P. & Vargas, V. R. (eds.). Cham: Springer Verlag, p. 199-216 18 p. (World Sustainability Series).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    Assessment for Transformation – Higher Education Thrives in Redefining Quality Systems

    Fadeeva, Z., Galkute, L., Mader, C. & Scott, G., 11.2014, Sustainable Development and Quality Assurance in Higher Education : Transformation of Learning and Society : Transformation of Learning and Society. Fadeeva, Z., Galkute, L., Mader, C. & Scott, G. (eds.). London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1-22 22 p. 1. (Palgrave Studies in Global Higher Education).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  9. Published

    Assessing tree dendrometrics in young regenerating plantations using terrestrial laser scanning

    Li, Y., Hess, C., von Wehrden, H., Härdtle, W. & Oheimb, G., 06.2014, In: Annals of Forest Science. 71, 4, p. 453-462 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Sustainability Management Software

    Kern, E., Silva, S. L. & Guldner, A., 19.09.2018, In: Technologies. 6, 3, 15 p., 88.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

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Publications

  1. Die neue Diskussion um Gemeinschaft
  2. Der Niedergang der Kreativität und die Konstanz der Kunst
  3. Qualitätsentwicklung von Schulen in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft: Evaluation der Lehrerfortbildung zur interkulturellen Koordination (2012 – 2014)
  4. Störerverantwortlichkeit bei Grundstücksgrenzen überschreitenden Grundwasserschäden
  5. Multilingualism in teacher education in Germany
  6. Gerhard O. Forde: The Captivation of the Will. Luther vs. Erasmus on Freedom and Bondage, Grand Rapids / Cambridge 2005
  7. Literaturbeziehungen
  8. Medien und klimabewusstes Verhalten
  9. Prosumer – zwischen Energiesuffizienz und Rebound-Effekten
  10. Sustainability in Karamoja?
  11. Mediale Teilhabe in Technologien relationaler Verschaltung
  12. Modifikationen der freiwilligen Einlagensicherung in Deutschland
  13. Rechnungslegung nach dem Bilanzrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz (BilMoG)
  14. Resistance to international democracy promotion in Morocco and Tunisia
  15. Zum Stand von Energiegenossenschaften in Deutschland
  16. Mensch und Wald. Theorie und Praxis einer Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung am Beispiel des Themenfelds Wald
  17. Societas Europaea
  18. Souveränität, Dynamik und Integration – making up the rules as we go along? Anmerkungen zum Lissabon-Urteil des BundesverfassungsgerichtsUrteil des BVerfG
  19. Führt Schulinspektion wirklich nicht zu besseren Schülerleistungen? Eine Einschätzung zur Belastbarkeit vorliegender Wirksamkeitsstudien aus programmtheoretischer Perspektive.
  20. „Unsere Underwriting-Philosophie ist sehr sophisticated“
  21. Going online, doing gender
  22. Schulintegrierte Produktionsstätten aus Sicht der Berufsbildungswissenschaften
  23. Trends in environmental education for biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica
  24. Reallabore als Rahmen transformativer und transdisziplinärer Forschung: Ziele und Designprinzipien
  25. Ein Déjà-coup-d’état-Erlebnis? Kayfabe-Politik als Netzwerkeffekt