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. 2017
  2. Published

    Von Liebhaberei und wirtschaftlichem Nutzen: Wie in der Flusslandschaft Elbe Agrobiodiversität erhalten wird

    Burandt, A., 02.2017, Politiken der Naturgestaltung: Ländliche Entwicklung und Agro-Gentechnik zwischen Kritik und Vision. Gottschlich, D. & Mölders, T. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 71-92 22 p.

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

  3. Published

    Developing sustainable business experimentation capability – A case study

    Weissbrod, I. & Bocken, N. M. P., 20.01.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 142, 4, p. 2663-2676 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Investigations for the detection of genotoxic substances on TLC plates

    Egetenmeyer, N. & Weiss, S. C., 20.01.2017, In: Journal of Liquid Chromatography and Related Technologies. 40, 2, p. 69-74 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Knowledge acquisition and development in sustainability-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises: Exploring the practices, capabilities and cooperation

    Johnson, M., 20.01.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 142, 4, p. 3769-3781 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Utilization of food waste in continuous flow cultures of the heterotrophic microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa for saturated and unsaturated fatty acids production

    Pleissner, D., Lau, K. Y. & Ki Lin, C. S., 20.01.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 142, 4, p. 1417-1424 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Real-world Laboratories and Transformation Research: Call for Papers: GAIA Open Access Special Issue

    Schäpke, N., Stelzer, F., Bergmann, M., Lang, D. J., Wagner, F. & Miller, E., 15.01.2017, In: GAIA. 26, 1, p. 55-57 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Variation in short-term and long-term responses of photosynthesis and isoprenoid-mediated photoprotection to soil water availability in four Douglas-fir provenances

    Junker, L. V., Kleiber, A., Jansen, K., Wildhagen, H., Hess, M., Kayler, Z., Kammerer, B., Schnitzler, J.-P., Kreuzwieser, J., Gessler, A. & Ensminger, I., 10.01.2017, In: Scientific Reports. 7, 16 p., 40145.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Gutes Leben vor Ort

    Heinrichs, H. (Editor), Kirst, E. (Editor) & Plawitzki, J. (Editor), 09.01.2017, Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag. 253 p. (Initiativen zum Umweltschutz; vol. 90)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  10. Published

    The Importance of Being First: Exploring Priority and Diversity Effects in a Grassland Field Experiment

    Weidlich, E. W. A., Von Gillhaussen, P., Delory, B., Blossfeld, S., Poorter, H. & Temperton, V. M., 05.01.2017, In: Frontiers in Plant Science. 7, 12 p., 2008.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Preventing Depression in Adults With Subthreshold Depression: Health-Economic Evaluation Alongside a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial of a Web-Based Intervention

    Buntrock, C., Berking, M., Smit, F., Lehr, D., Nobis, S., Riper, H., Cuijpers, P. & Ebert, D. D., 04.01.2017, In: Journal of Medical Internet Research. 19, 1, 16 p., e5.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  12. Published

    Ecosystem functions as indicators for heathland responses to nitrogen fertilisation

    Bähring, A., Fichtner, A., Ibe, K., Schütze, G., Temperton, V. M., Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 01.01.2017, In: Ecological Indicators. 72, p. 185-193 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Embedding Evidence on Conservation Interventions Within a Context of Multilevel Governance

    Ekroos, J., Leventon, J., Fischer, J., Newig, J. & Smith, H. G., 01.01.2017, In: Conservation Letters. 10, 1, p. 139-145 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Emotion Knowledge and Attention Problems in Young Children: a Cross-Lagged Panel Study on the Direction of Effects

    Salisch, M., Denham, S. A. & Koch, T., 01.01.2017, In: Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 45, 1, p. 45-56 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Human and veterinary drugs in the environment

    Rastogi, T., Ahmed, W. M. M. M. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2017, Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene. Elsevier B.V., Vol. 1-5. p. 263-268 6 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaResearch

  16. Published

    Initial fate assessment of teratogenic drug trimipramine and its photo-transformation products - Role of pH, concentration and temperature

    Khaleel, N. D. H., Mahmoud, W. M. M., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2017, In: Water Research. 108, p. 197-211 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Irreversibility and uncertainty cause an intergenerational equity-efficiency trade-off

    Hoberg, N. & Baumgärtner, S., 01.01.2017, In: Ecological Economics. 131, p. 75-86 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Key features for more successful place-based sustainability research on social-ecological systems: a Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society (PECS) perspective

    Balvanera, P., Daw, T. M., Gardner, T. A., Martín-López, B., Norström, A. V., Ifejika Speranza, C., Spierenburg, M., Bennett, E. M., Farfan, M., Hamann, M., Kittinger, J. N., Luthe, T., Maass, M., Peterson, G. D. & Perez-Verdin, G., 01.01.2017, In: Ecology and Society. 22, 1, 45 p., 14.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Mandelic acid derived ionic liquids: Synthesis, toxicity and biodegradability

    Prydderch, H., Haiß, A., Spulak, M., Quilty, B., Kümmerer, K., Heise, A. & Gathergood, N., 01.01.2017, In: RSC Advances. 7, 4, p. 2115-2126 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Relational leadership for strategic sustainability: practices and capabilities to advance the design and assessment of sustainable business models

    Kurucz, E. C., Colbert, B. A., Lüdeke-Freund, F., Upward, A. & Willard, B., 01.01.2017, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 140, p. 189-204 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Research in-between: The constitutive role of cultural differences in transdisciplinarity

    Vilsmaier, U., Brandner, V. & Engbers, M., 01.01.2017, In: Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science. 8, p. 169-179 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review