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. 2008
  2. Published

    Macroecological patterns of spider species richness across Europe

    Finch, O.-D., Blick, T. & Schuldt, A., 11.2008, In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 17, 12, p. 2849-2868 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Xenotransplantation: Prävention des xenogenen Infektionsrisikos: Eine Untersuchung zum deutschen und spanischen Recht

    Guerra González, J., 20.10.2008, Frankfurt: Peter Lang Verlag. 348 p. (Recht und Medizin; vol. 91)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsEducation

  4. Published

    Relating the philosophy and practice of ecological economics: the role of concepts, models, and case studies in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability research

    Baumgärtner, S., Becker, C., Frank, K., Müller, B. & Quaas, M., 15.10.2008, In: Ecological Economics. 67, 3, p. 384-393 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Agro-biodiversity as natural insurance and the development of financial insurance markets

    Baumgärtner, S. & Quaas, M. F., 06.10.2008, Agrobiodiversity conservation and economic development. Kontoleon, A., Pascual, U. & Smale, M. (eds.). Abingdon: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 293-317 25 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  6. Published

    Microsatellites and allozymes as the genetic memory of habitat fragmentation and defragmentation in populations of the ground beetle Carabus auronitens (Col., Carabidae)

    Drees, C., Matern, A., Rasplus, J.-Y., Terlutter, H., Aßmann, T. & Weber, F., 01.10.2008, In: Journal of Biogeography. 35, 10, p. 1937-1949 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A new species of Philorhizus Hope, 1838 from Greece (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini)

    Wrase, D. W. & Aßmann, T., 16.09.2008, In: ZooKeys. 3, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Time sensitivity: a delicate and crucial starting point of reflexive methods for studying time in management and organisations

    Sabelis, I., 09.09.2008, Time in organizational research. Roe, R. A., Walter, M. J. & Clegg, S. R. (eds.). London [u.a.]: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 167-185 19 p. (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society; vol. 3).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Calibration of the Chemcatcher ® passive sampler for monitoring selected polar and semi-polar pesticides in surface water

    Gunold, R., Schäfer, R. B., Paschke, A., Schüermann, G. & Liess, M., 01.09.2008, In: Environmental Pollution. 155, 1, p. 52-60 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Ecological design & engineering for urban environments

    Braungart, M., Darlington, A., Garland, J., Lucey, W. P., Peck, S. & Peeters, J., 01.09.2008, In: Industrial Biotechnology. 4, 3, p. 211-223 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  11. Published

    Editorial: Questioning the construction of "balance": a time perspective on gender and organization

    Sabelis, I., Nencel, L., Knights, D. & Odih, P., 01.09.2008, In: Gender, Work & Organization. 15, 5, p. 423-429 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  12. Published

    Erbguth/Schlacke: Umweltrecht

    Schomerus, T., 09.2008, In: Natur und Recht. 30, 9, p. 626-626 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  13. Published

    Sustainability, Substance Flow Management and Time: Part I: Temporal Analysis of Substance Flows

    Kümmerer, K. & Hofmeister, S., 09.2008, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 88, 4, p. 1333-1342 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Bedrohte Vielfalt: Biodiversität

    Busch, A. & Kuhn, K., 26.08.2008, 1. ed. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. 72 p. (Themenblätter im Unterricht; no. 75)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCompendium/lecture notesEducation

  15. Published

    HPLC and chemometrics-assisted UV-spectroscopy methods for the simultaneous determination of ambroxol and doxycycline in capsule.

    Hadad, G. M., El-Gindy, A. & Mahmoud, W. M. M., 01.08.2008, In: Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. 70, 3, p. 655-663 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  16. Published

    NH4+ ad-/desorption in sequencing batch reactors: simulation, laboratory and full-scale studies

    Schwitalla, P., Mennerich, A., Austermann-Haun, U., Müller, A., Gruber-Dorninger, C., Daims, H., Holm, N. C. & Rönner-Holm, S. G. E., 01.08.2008, In: Water Science and Technology. 58, 2, p. 345-350 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Company-Level Measurement Approach for CSR

    Weber, M., 01.08.2008, In: European Management Journal. 26, 4, p. 247-261 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  18. Published
  19. Published

    The Carabus fauna of Israel - updated identification key, faunistics, and habitats (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

    Aßmann, T., Buse, J., Drees, C., Friedman, A.-L.-L., Levanony, T., Matern, A., Timm, A. & Wrase, D. W., 04.07.2008, In: ZooKeys. 1, p. 9-22 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    ZooKeys, unlocking Earth's incredible biodiversity and building a sustainable bridge into the public domain: From "print-based" to "web-based" taxonomy, systematics, and natural history ZooKeys Editorial Opening Paper

    Penev, L. D., Erwin, T. L., Thompson, F. C., Sues, H.-D., Engel, M. S., Agosti, D., Pyle, R., Ivie, M., Henry, T., Miller, J., Ananjeva, N. B., Casale, A., Lourenco, W., Golovatch, S., Fagerholm, H.-P., Taiti, S., Alonso-Zarazaga, M., van Nieukerken, E. & Aßmann, T., 04.07.2008, In: ZooKeys. 1, p. 1-7 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  21. Published

    Factors affecting fruit set in Aizoaceae species of the Succulent Karoo

    Pufal, G., Mayer, C., Porembski, S. & Juergens, N., 01.07.2008, In: Basic and Applied Ecology. 9, 4, p. 401-409 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review