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

    Pollination mitigates cucumber yield gaps more than pesticide and fertilizer use in tropical smallholder gardens

    Motzke, I., Tscharntke, T., Wanger, T. C. & Klein, A. M., 02.2015, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 52, 1, p. 261-269 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Response of a shrubland mammal and reptile community to a history of landscape-scale wildfire

    Doherty, T. S., Davis, R. A., Van Etten, E. J. B., Collier, N. & Krawiec, J., 02.2015, In: International Journal of Wildland Fire. 24, 4, p. 534-543 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    The necessity of disinfected toilet brushes - information policy of companies on disinfectants in private homes

    Wieck, S., 23.01.2015, In: Environmental Sciences Europe. 27, 1, 9 p., 3.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    A review on the use of calcium chloride in applied thermal engineering

    N'Tsoukpoe, K. E., Rammelberg, H., Fopah Lele, A., Korhammer, K., Watts, B. A., Schmidt, T. & Ruck, W., 22.01.2015, In: Applied Thermal Engineering. 75, p. 513-531 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  6. Published

    Aliens in Transylvania: risk maps of invasive alien plant species in Central Romania

    Zimmermann, H., Loos, J., von Wehrden, H. & Fischer, J., 16.01.2015, In: NeoBiota. 24, p. 55-65 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Nachhaltigkeit anders denken: Veränderungspotenziale durch Geschlechterperspektiven

    Katz, C. (Editor), Heilmann, S. (Editor), Thiem, A. (Editor), Moths, K. (Editor), Koch, L. M. (Editor) & Hofmeister, S. (Editor), 15.01.2015, 1. Auflage ed. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. 293 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  8. Published

    Environmental chemistry of organosiloxanes

    Rücker, C. & Kümmerer, K., 14.01.2015, In: Chemical Reviews. 115, 1, p. 466-524 59 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Performance of methods to select landscape metrics for modelling species richness

    Schindler, S., von Wehrden, H., Poirazidis, K., Hochachka, W. M., Wrbka, T. & Kati, V., 10.01.2015, In: Ecological Modelling. 295, p. 107-112 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Observational natural history and morphological taxonomy are indispensable for future challenges in biodiversity and conservation

    Staab, M., Ohl, M., Zhu, C. D. & Klein, A. M., 02.01.2015, In: Communicative and Integrative Biology. 8, 1, 3 p., e992745.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    The Monster and the polar bears: constructing the future knowledge landscape of synthetic biology to inform responsible innovation.

    Withycombe Keeler, L. & Foley, R. W., 02.01.2015, In: Journal of Responsible Innovation. 2, 1, p. 81 - 84 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Assessing Online Consultation in Participatory Governance: Conceptual Framework and a Case Study of a National Sustainability-related Consultation Platform in Germany

    Schulz, D. & Newig, J., 01.01.2015, In: Environmental Policy and Governance. 25, 1, p. 55-69 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Bilingual (German–English) molecular biology courses in an out-of-school lab on a university campus: Cognitive and affective evaluation

    Rodenhauser, A. & Preisfeld, A., 01.01.2015, In: International Journal of Environmental and Science Education. 10, 1, p. 99-110 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Biodegradation screening of chemicals in an artificial matrix simulating the water-sediment interface

    Baginska, E., Haiß, A. & Kümmerer, K., 01.01.2015, In: Chemosphere. 119, p. 1240-1246 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Ecotoxicological and Genotoxic Assessment of Hospital Laundry Wastewaters

    Kern, D. I., de Oliveira Schwaickhardt, R., Lutterbeck, C. A., Kist, L. T., Alcayaga, E. A. L. & Machado, Ê. L., 01.01.2015, In: Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 68, 1, p. 64-73 10 p., 72.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Elution of monomers from provisional composite materials

    Schulz, S. D., Laquai, T., Kümmerer, K., Bolek, R., Mersch-Sundermann, V. & Polydorou, O., 01.01.2015, In: International Journal of Polymer Science. 2015, 7 p., 617407.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Historical emissions of octachlorodibenzodioxin in a watershed in Queensland, Australia: estimation from field data and an environmental fate model

    Camenzuli, L., Scheringer, M., Gaus, C., Grant, S., Zennegg, M. & Hungerbühler, K., 01.01.2015, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 502, p. 680-687 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    How interest groups adapt to the changing forest governance landscape in the EU: A case study from Germany

    Jürges, N. & Newig, J., 01.01.2015, In: Forest Policy and Economics. 50, p. 228-235 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Interacting effects of pollination, water and nutrients on fruit tree performance

    Klein, A.-M., Hendrix, S. D., Clough, Y., Scofield, A. & Kremen, C., 01.01.2015, In: Plant Biology. 17, 1, p. 201-208 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Key Competencies: Reconciling Means and Ends in Education for Sustainable Consumption

    Fischer, D. & Barth, M., 01.01.2015, Schools for Health and Sustainability: Theory, Research and Practice. Simovska, V. & Mannix McNamara, P. (eds.). Dordrecht: Springer Verlag, p. 41-60 20 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  21. Published

    Labelling Sustainable Software Products and Websites: Ideas , Approaches , and Challenges

    Kern, E., Dick, M., Naumann, S. & Filler, A., 01.01.2015, 29th International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection. Atlantis Press, p. 82-91 10 p. (Advances in Computer Science Research).

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