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. 2015
  2. Published

    Carbon Management Accounting and Reporting in Practice: A Case Study on Converging Emergent Approaches

    Gibassier, D. & Schaltegger, S., 07.09.2015, In: Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. 6, 3, p. 340-365 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Gatekeepers of Sustainability Information: Exploring the Roles of Accountants

    Schaltegger, S. & Zvezdov, D., 07.09.2015, In: Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change. 11, 3, p. 333-361 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Incorporating anthropogenic effects into trophic ecology: Predator - Prey interactions in a human-dominated landscape

    Dorresteijn, I., Schultner, J., Nimmo, D. G., Fischer, J., Hanspach, J., Kuemmerle, T., Kehoe, L. & Ritchie, E. G., 07.09.2015, In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B . 282, 1814, 8 p., 20151602.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Agro-ecosystem services and dis-services in almond orchards are differentially influenced by the surrounding landscape

    Schäckermann, J., Pufal, G., Mandelik, Y. & Klein, A. M., 01.09.2015, In: Ecological Entomology. 40, S1, p. 12-21 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Early subtropical forest growth is driven by community mean trait values and functional diversity rather than the abiotic environment

    Kröber, W., Li, Y., Härdtle, W., Ma, K., Schmid, B., Schmidt, K., Scholten, T., Seidler, G., von Oheimb, G., Welk, E., Wirth, C. & Bruehlheide, H., 01.09.2015, In: Ecology and Evolution. 5, 17, p. 3541-3556 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Evaluation of the toxic effects of four anti-cancer drugs in plant bioassays and its potency for screening in the context of waste water reuse for irrigation

    Lutterbeck, C. A., Kern, D. I., Machado, Ê. L. & Kümmerer, K., 01.09.2015, In: Chemosphere. 135, p. 403-410 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Forgetting fire: Traditional fire knowledge in two chestnut forest ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula and its implications for European fire management policy

    Seijo, F., Millington, J. D. A., Gray, R., Sanz, V., Lozano Mendoza, J., García-Serrano, F., Sangüesa-Barreda, G. & Julio Camarero, J., 01.09.2015, In: Land Use Policy. 47, p. 130-144 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Groundwater abstraction for irrigation and its impacts on low flows in a watershed in Northwest Germany

    Wittenberg, H., 01.09.2015, In: Resources. 4, 3, p. 566-576 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Nachhaltiges Unternehmertum: Unterschätzter Nachhaltigkeitstransformator von Märkten und Regionen

    Schaltegger, S., Hansen, E. G. & Lüdeke-Freund, F., 01.09.2015, In: Ökologisches Wirtschaften. 30, 3, p. 21-23 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published
  12. Published

    The private sector in climate governance: Opportunities for climate compatible development through multilevel industry-government engagement

    Mildorfová-Leventon, J., Dyer, J. C. & Van Alstine, J. D., 01.09.2015, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 102, p. 316 - 323 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Adaptation of the Brine Shrimp Artemia Salina (Branchiopoda: Anostraca) to Filter-Feeding: Effects of Body Size and Temperature on Filtration and Respiration Rates

    Riisgard, H. U., Zalacain, D., Jeune, N., Wiersma, J. B., Lueskow, F. & Pleissner, D., 09.2015, In: Journal of Crustacean Biology. 35, 5, p. 650-658 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Characteristics, emerging needs, and challenges of transdisciplinary sustainability science: experiences from the German Social-Ecological Research Program

    Ruppert-Winkel, C., Arlinghaus, R., Deppisch, S., Eisenack, K., Gottschlich, D., Hirschl, B., Matzdorf, B., Mölders, T., Padmanabhan, M., Selbmann, K., Ziegler, R. & Plieninger, T., 09.2015, In: Ecology and Society. 20, 3, 17 p., 13.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Duldungsverfügungen im Bodenschutz- und Altlastenrecht, insbesondere bei der Altlastenerkundung und-sanierung

    Sanden, J., 09.2015, In: Natur und Recht. 37, 9, p. 606-614 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Estimation of risk measures on electricity markets with fat-tailed distributions

    Fianu, E. S. & Grossi, L., 09.2015, In: Journal of Energy Markets. 8, 3, p. 29-54 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Impacts of drought and nitrogen addition on Calluna heathlands differ with plant life-history stage

    Meyer-Grünefeldt, M., Calvo, L., Marcos, E., Von Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 09.2015, In: Journal of Ecology. 103, 5, p. 1141-1152 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  18. Published

    Inside-Out and Outside-In: Twins between Sustainability Strategy, Performance Management, Reporting and Stakeholder Involvement

    Johnson, M. & Schaltegger, S., 09.2015, BAM2015 Conference Proceedings: The Value of Pluralism in Advancing Management Research, Education and Practice. British Academy of Management, 8 p.

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

  19. Published

    Umweltverschmutzung durch Licht: Die Ausweisung von Lichtschutzgebieten als Instrument zur Reduktion von Lichtimmissionen

    Borchers, K. C. & Schomerus, T., 09.2015, In: Natur und Recht. 37, 9, p. 614-621 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  20. Published

    Management Education for Sustainability: Deriving learning formats from competence requirements

    Hesselbarth, C., Buhr, M. & Schaltegger, S., 24.08.2015, Sustainability in Higher Education. Davim, J. P. (ed.). Waltham: Elsevier B.V., p. 21-49 29 p. (Chandos information professional series).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  21. Published

    Getting an empirical hold of the sustainable university: a comparative analysis of evaluation frameworks across 12 contemporary sustainability assessment tools

    Fischer, D., Jenssen, S. & Tappeser, V., 18.08.2015, In: Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 40, 6, p. 785-800 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review