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

    Position des Schutzguts Boden in Recht und Praxis der naturschutzrechtlichen Instrumente

    Giese, E., Lichey, K. & Sanden, J., 18.11.2009, In: Bodenschutz. 4/2009, p. 108-115 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  3. Published

    Multidisciplinary characterization of the middle Holocene eolian deposits of the Elsa River basin (central Italy)

    Costantini, E. A. C., Priori, S., Urban, B., Hilgers, A., Sauer, D., Protano, G., Trombino, L., Huelle, D. & Nannoni, F., 01.11.2009, In: Quaternary International. 209, 1-2, p. 107-130 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    A sticky affair: resin collection by Bornean stingless bees

    Leonhardt, S. & Blüthgen, N., 11.2009, In: Biotropica. 41, 6, p. 730-736 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Determination of octanol-air partition coefficients (KOA) of fluorotelomer acrylates, perfluoroalkyl sulfonamids, and perfluoroalkylsulfonamido ethanols

    Dreyer, A., Langer, V. & Ebinghaus, R., 11.2009, In: Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data. 54, 11, p. 3022-3025 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Is Calluna vulgaris a suitable bio-monitor of management-mediated nutrient pools in heathland ecosystems?

    von Oheimb, G., Haerdtle, W., Falk, K., Gerke, A.-K., Meyer, H., Drees, C. & Matern, A., 11.2009, In: Ecological Indicators. 9, 6, p. 1049-1055 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Transaktionskosten und die Gestaltung ökonomischer Austauschbeziehungen: Zum Nobelpreis an Oliver E. Williamson

    Groth, M., 11.2009, In: Wirtschaftsdienst. 89, 11, p. 770-776 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Development and validation of a stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for the determination of paracetamol with dantrolene or/and cetirizine and pseudoephedrine in two pharmaceutical dosage forms

    Hadad, G. M., Emara, S. & Mahmoud, W. M. M., 15.10.2009, In: Talanta. 79, 5, p. 1360-1367 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Selbstgestaltete Rituale in der Gruppenarbeit mit Kindern

    Kerll, J. & Wagner, B., 13.10.2009, In: www.widerstreit-sachunterricht.de. 13, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Environmental and historical effects on richness and endemism patterns of carabid beetles in the western Palaearctic

    Schuldt, A. & Aßmann, T., 10.2009, In: Ecography. 32, 5, p. 705-714 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published
  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. Published

    Innovationsfeld Hochschule

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

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. Published
  21. 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