School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
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.
- Published
The European Higher Education for Sustainable Development Network – COPERNICUS Alliance – back on stage with Charta 2.0
Zimmermann, F. M., Mader, C., Michelsen, G. & Adomßent, M., 2012, Higher Education in the World 4: Higher Education's Commitment to Sustainability: from Understanding to Action. G. U. N. F. I. (ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, Vol. 4. p. 134-136 3 p. (GUNI Series on the Social Commitment of Universities ; vol. 4).Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
- Published
Foraging loads of stingless bees and utilisation of stored nectar for pollen harvesting
Leonhardt, S., Dworschak, K., Eltz, T. & Blüthgen, N., 2007, In: Apidologie. 38, 2, p. 125-135 11 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Reformation process of the neuronal template for nestmate recognition cues in the carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus)
Leonhardt, S., Brandstaetter, A. S. & Kleineidam, C. J., 09.2007, In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A – Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 193, 9, p. 993-1000 8 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Seeing red: behavioral evidence of trichromatic color vision in strepsirrhine primates
Leonhardt, S., Tung, J., Camden, J. B., Leal, M. & Drea, C. M., 2009, In: Behavioral Ecology. 20, 1, p. 1-12 12 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
A sticky affair: resin collection by Bornean stingless bees
Leonhardt, S. & Blüthgen, N., 11.2009, In: Biotropica. 41, 6, p. 730-736 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Smelling like resin: terpenoids account for species-specific cuticular profiles in Southeast-Asian stingless bees
Leonhardt, S., Blüthgen, N. & Schmitt, T., 07.2009, In: Insectes Sociaux. 56, 2, p. 157-170 14 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Terpenoids tame aggressors: role of chemicals in stingless bee communal nesting
Leonhardt, S., Jung, L.-M., Schmitt, T. & Blüthgen, N., 09.2010, In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 64, 9, p. 1415-1423 9 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Stingless bees use terpenes as olfactory cues to find resin sources
Leonhardt, S., Zeilhofer, S., Blüthgen, N. & Schmitt, T., 09.2010, In: Chemical Senses. 35, 7, p. 603-611 9 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
- Published
Wirtschaften in Netzen
Lang, F. J., Schrader, R. & Burandt, A., 2012, In: Unsere Wirtschaft. 63, 03/2012, p. 20-22 3 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Transfer
- Published
The cuticular profiles of Australian stingless bees are shaped by resin of the eucalypt tree Corymbia torelliana
Leonhardt, S., Wallace, H. M. & Schmitt, T., 08.2011, In: Austral Ecology. 36, 5, p. 537–543 7 p.Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review