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. 2009
  2. Published

    Mehr Fragen als Antworten: das Repowering nach dem EEG 2009

    Schomerus, T. & Stecher, M., 21.09.2009, In: Recht der Energiewirtschaft. p. 269-275 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Partitioning Behavior of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Compounds between Pore Water and Sediment in Two Sediment Cores from Tokyo Bay, Japan

    Ahrens, L., Yamashita, N., Yeung, L. W. Y., Taniyasu, S., Horii, Y., Lam, P. K. S. & Ebinghaus, R., 15.09.2009, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 43, 18, p. 6969-6975 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Innovationsfeld Hochschule

    Michelsen, G., 01.09.2009, In: Ökologisches Wirtschaften. 24, 3, p. 21-23 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  5. Published

    Polyfluorinated compounds in the atmosphere of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans: Evidence for a global distribution

    Dreyer, A., Weinberg, I., Temme, C. & Ebinghaus, R., 01.09.2009, In: Environmental Science and Technology. 43, 17, p. 6507-6514 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Polyfluorinated compounds in waste water treatment plant effluents and surface waters along the River Elbe, Germany

    Ahrens, L., Felizeter, S., Sturm, R., Xie, Z. & Ebinghaus, R., 01.09.2009, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 58, 9, p. 1326-1333 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Rapid Identification of Bacteria in Clinical Microbiology Routiine Diagnostics using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

    Reich, M., Stark, M., Huesgen, G., Beyser, K. & Borgmann, S., 01.09.2009, In: International Journal of Medical Microbiology. 299, Supplement 1, p. 3 1 p., DVP 11.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference abstract in journalResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Do we need livestock grazing to promote Polylepis australis tree recruitment in the Central Argentinean Mountains?

    Zimmermann, H., Renison, D., Leyer, I. & Hensen, I., 09.2009, In: Ecological Research. 24, 5, p. 1075-1081 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Nichtwissen und Resilienz in der lokalen Klimaanpassung: Widersprüche zwischen theoriegeleiteten Handlungsempfehlungen und empirischen Befunden am Beispiel des Sommerhochwassers 2002

    Kuhlicke, C. & Kruse, S., 09.2009, In: GAIA. 18, 3, p. 247-254 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published
  11. Published

    A gene marker panel covering the Wnt and the Ras-Raf-MEK-MAPK signalling pathways allows to detect gene mutations in 80% of early (UICC I) colon cancer stages in humans

    Scholtka, B., Schneider, M., Melcher, R., Katzenberger, T., Friedrich, D., Berghof-Jäger, K., Scheppach, W. & Steinberg, P., 08.2009, In: Cancer Epidemiology. 33, 2, p. 123-129 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published
  13. Published

    Species constancy depends on plot size - A problem for vegetation classification and how it can be solved

    Dengler, J., Löbel, S. & Dolnik, C., 08.2009, In: Journal of Vegetation Science. 20, 4, p. 754-766 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Why and How to adopt Green Management into Business Organizations? The Case Study of Korean SMEs in Manufacturing Industry

    Lee, K.-H., 31.07.2009, In: Management Decision. 47, 7, p. 1101-1121 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    The economics of biodiversity and ecosystem services

    Perrings, C., Baumgärtner, S., Brock, W. A., Chopra, K., Conte, M., Costello, C., Duraiappah, A., Kinzig, A. P., Pascual, U., Polanski, S., Tschirhart, J. & Xepapadeas, A., 30.07.2009, Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective. Naeem, S., Bunker, D. E., Hector, A., Loreau, M. & Perrings, C. (eds.). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press, p. 230-247 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  16. Published

    The valuation of ecosystem services

    Barbier, E. B., Baumgärtner, S., Chopra, K., Costello, C., Duraiappah, A., Hassan, R., Kinzig, A. P., Lehman, M., Pascual, U., Polasky, S. & Perrings, C., 30.07.2009, Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and human wellbeing: An Ecological and Economic Perspective. Naeem, S., Bunker, D. E., Hector, A., Loreau, M. & Perrings, C. (eds.). Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press, p. 248-262 15 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  17. Published

    Extent, perception and mitigation of damage due to high groundwater levels in the city of Dresden, Germany

    Kreibich, H., Thieken, A. H., Grunenberg, H., Ullrich, K. & Sommer, T., 27.07.2009, In: Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences . 9, 4, p. 1247-1258 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Legitimacion retorica de la politica clematica: El cambio climatico en los medios alemanes

    Peters, H. P. & Heinrichs, H., 02.07.2009, In: Infoamerica: Iberoamerican Communication Review. 1, p. 59-78 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  19. Published

    Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Deichverbände in Niedersachsen und Bremen

    Lampe, E., Diekkruger, B., Heinrichs, H. & Striegnitz, M., 01.07.2009, In: Wasser und Abfall. 11, 7-8, p. 48-52 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  20. Published

    Analysis and occurrence of seven artificial sweeteners in German waste water and surface water and in soil aquifer treatment (SAT)

    Scheurer, M., Brauch, H. J. & Lange, F. T., 07.2009, In: Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 394, 6, p. 1585-1594 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Das Conservation Reserve Program: Erfahrungen und Perspektiven für die europäische Agrarumweltpolitik

    Groth, M., 07.2009, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 31 p. (Working Papers Series in Economics; no. 133).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers