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. 2011
  2. Published

    Early succession arthropod community changes on experimental passion fruit plant patches along a land-use gradient in Ecuador

    Teodoro, A. V., Muñoz, A., Tscharntke, T., Klein, A. & Tylianakis, J., 30.01.2011, In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 140, 1-2, p. 14-19 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    SMOKE for Europe-adaptation, modification and evaluation of a comprehensive emission model for Europe

    Bieser, J., Aulinger, A., Matthias, V., Quante, M. & Builtjes, P., 25.01.2011, In: Geoscientific Model Development. 4, 1, p. 47-68 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    A Review on Higher Education for Sustainable Development - Looking Back and Moving Forward

    Barth, M. (Editor), Michelsen, G. (Editor) & Sanusi, Z. A. (Editor), 03.01.2011, In: Journal of Social Science. 7, 1, p. 100-103 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  5. Published

    A framework for evaluating the contribution of transformation products to chemical persistence in the environment

    Ng, C. A., Scheringer, M., Fenner, K. & Hungerbuhler, K., 01.01.2011, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 45, 1, p. 111-117 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    A Inserção da Dimensão Ambiental na Formação de Professores de Química

    Zuin, V. G., 01.01.2011, Atomo. 182 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  7. Published

    Air concentrations and particlegas partitioning of polyfluoroalkyl compounds at a wastewater treatment plant

    Vierke, L., Ahrens, L., Shoeib, M., Reiner, E. J., Guo, R., Palm, W.-U., Ebinghaus, R. & Harner, T., 01.01.2011, In: Environmental Chemistry. 8, 4, p. 363-371 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Chemical profiles of body surfaces and nests from six Bornean stingless bee species

    Leonhardt, S. D., Blüthgen, N. & Schmitt, T., 01.01.2011, In: Journal of Chemical Ecology. 37, 1, p. 98-104 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Consumer preferences determine resilience of ecological-economic systems

    Baumgärtner, S., Derissen, S., Quaas, M. F. & Strunz, S., 01.01.2011, In: Ecology and Society. 16, 4, 12 p., 9.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Habitat preferences of the Levant Green Lizard, Lacerta media israelica (Peters, 1964): (Reptilia: Lacertidae)

    Loos, J., Dayan, T., Drescher, N., Levanony, T., Maza, E., Shacham, B., Talbi, R. & Aßmann, T., 01.01.2011, In: Zoology in the Middle East. 52, 1, p. 17-28 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Higher Education for Sustainable Development. Students' Perspectives on an Innovative Approach to Educational Change

    Barth, M. & Timm, J.-M., 01.01.2011, In: Journal of Social Science. 7, 1, p. 13-23 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Impact of monsoon-driven surface ocean processes on a coral off Port Blair on the Andaman Islands and their link to North Atlantic climate variations

    Rixen, T., Ramachandran, P., Lehnhoff, L., Dasbach, D., Gaye, B., Urban, B., Ramachandran, R. & Ittekkot, V., 01.01.2011, In: Global and Planetary Change. 75, 1-2, p. 1-13 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    Monitoring Educational Organizations’ Culture of Sustainable Consumption: Initiating and Evaluating Cultural Change in Schools and Universities

    Fischer, D., 01.01.2011, In: Journal of Social Science. 7, 1, p. 63-75 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Quantification of amino acids in fermentation media by isocratic HPLC analysis of their

    Pleissner, D., Wimmer, R. & Eriksen, N. T., 01.01.2011, In: Analytical Chemistry. 83, 1, p. 175-181 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Rosa

    Arens, P., Smulders, M. J. M., Koning-Boucoiran, C. F. S., Gitonga, V. W., Krens, F. A., Atanassov, A., Atanassov, I., Rusanov, K. E., Bendahmane, M., Dubois, A., Raymond, O., Caissard, J. C., Baudino, S., Crespel, L., Gudin, S., Ricci, S. C., Kovatcheva, N., Van Huylenbroeck, J., Leus, L., Wissemann, V., Zimmermann, H., Hensen, I., Werlemark, G. & Nybom, H., 01.01.2011, Wild Crop relatives: Genomic & Breeding Resources, Plantation and Ornamental Crops. Kole, C. (ed.). Berlin: Springer Verlag, p. 243-275 33 p. (Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources; vol. 7).

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

  16. Published

    Global warming will affect the genetic diversity and uniqueness of Lycaena helle populations

    Habel, J. C., Rödder, D., Schmitt, T. & Nève, G., 01.2011, In: Global Change Biology. 17, 1, p. 194-205 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published
  18. Published

    Nachhaltigkeit braucht Institutionen - zur Institutionalisierung von Nachhaltigkeitsräten

    Schomerus, T., 01.2011, In: Natur und Recht. 33, 1, p. 1-7 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Optimal grazing management rules in semi-arid rangelands with uncertain rainfall

    Quaas, M. F. & Baumgärtner, S., 01.2011, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 27 p. (University of Lüneburg Working Papers Series in Economics; no. 193).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  20. Published

    The Interaction of Global Value Chains and Rural Livelihoods: The case of smallholder raspberry growers in Chile

    Challies, E. R. T. & Murray, W. E., 01.2011, In: Journal of Agrarian Change. 11, 1, p. 29-59 31 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Waste water treatment plants as sources of polyfluorinated compounds, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and musk fragrances to ambient air

    Weinberg, I., Dreyer, A. & Ebinghaus, R., 01.2011, In: Environmental Pollution. 159, 1, p. 125-132 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review