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

    To Own or to Use? How Product-Service Systems Facilitate Eco-Innovation Behavior

    Tietze, F. & Hansen, E. G., 2013, In: Academy of Management Proceedings. 2013, 1, 1 p., Article no. 12213.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    To Own or to Use: How Product Service Systems Impact Firms’ Innovation Behavior

    Tietze, F. & Hansen, E. G., 2013, In: The European Financial Review. 6, 10, p. 53-56 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer

  3. Published

    Tomato plants rather than fertilizers drive microbial community structure in horticultural growing media

    Grunert, O., Robles Aguilar, A. A., Hernandez-Sanabria, E., Schrey, S., Reheul, D., Van Labeke, M.-C., Vlaeminck, S. E., Vandekerckhove, T. G. L., Mysara, M., Monsieurs, P., Temperton, V., Boon, N. & Jablonowski, N., 01.12.2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 15 p., 9561 .

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Tod eines Investmentbankers: eine Sittengeschichte der Finanzbranche

    Oermann, N. O., 2013, Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder Verlag. 255 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Timing matters: Distinct effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer application timing on root system architecture responses

    van Duijnen, R., Uther, H., Härdtle, W., Temperton, V. & Kumar, A., 01.08.2021, In: Plant-Environment Interactions. 2, 4, p. 194-205 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Time sensitivity: a delicate and crucial starting point of reflexive methods for studying time in management and organisations

    Sabelis, I., 09.09.2008, Time in organizational research. Roe, R. A., Walter, M. J. & Clegg, S. R. (eds.). London [u.a.]: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 167-185 19 p. (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society; vol. 3).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Time course of exhaled hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide during chemotherapy

    Wewel, A. R., Crusius, J. A. M., Gatzemeier, U., Heckmayr, M., Becher, G., Magnussen, H., Jorres, R. A. & Holz, O., 01.05.2006, In: European Respiratory Journal. 27, 5, p. 1033-1039 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Time and sustainability: A missing link in formal education curricula

    Grauer, C., Fischer, D. & Frank, P., 29.03.2022, In: Journal of Environmental Education. 53, 1, p. 22-41 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Time- and age-related effects of experimentally simulated nitrogen deposition on the functioning of montane heathland ecosystems

    Calvo-Fernández, J., Taboada, A., Fichtner, A., Härdtle, W., Calvo, L. & Marcos, E., 01.02.2018, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 613-614, p. 149-159 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Through the eye of a butterfly: Assessing biodiversity impacts of cashew expansion in West Africa

    Vasconcelos, S., Rodrigues, P., Palma, L., Mendes, L. F., Palminha, A., Catarino, L. & Beja, P., 01.11.2015, In: Biological Conservation. 191, p. 779-786 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review