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

    Environmental management accounting for cleaner production: The case of a Philippine rice mill

    Burritt, R. L., Herzig, C. & Tadeo, B. D., 03.2009, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 17, 4, p. 431-439 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Environmental Management Accounting for Cleaner Production: The Case of a Philippine Rice Mill

    Burritt, R., Herzig, C. & Tadeo, B. D., 03.2009, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 17, 4, p. 431-439 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Integrated assessment of bioelectricity technology options

    Thornley, P., Upham, P., Huang, Y., Rezvani, S., Brammer, J. & Rogers, J., 03.2009, In: Energy Policy. 37, 3, p. 890-903 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Optimal dynamic scale and structure of a multi-pollution economy

    Baumgärtner, S., Jöst, F. & Winkler, R., 15.02.2009, In: Ecological Economics. 68, 4, p. 1226-1238 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Selection harvest in temperate deciduous forests: impact on herb layer richness and composition

    Oheimb, G. & Härdtle, W., 01.02.2009, In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 18, 2, p. 271-287 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Determination of the construction and the material identity values of outside building components with the help of in-situ measuring procedures and FEM-simulation calculations

    Beißner, E. & Eilering, S., 02.2009, In: Bautechnik. 86, 2, p. 94-98 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Shifts in N and P Budgets of Heathland Ecosystems: Effects of Management and Atmospheric Inputs

    Haerdtle, W., von Oheimb, G., Gerke, A.-K., Niemeyer, M., Niemeyer, T., Aßmann, T., Drees, C., Matern, A. & Meyer, H., 02.2009, In: Ecosystems. 12, 2, p. 298-310 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    At the interface of historical and present-day ecology: ground beetles in woodlands and open habitats in Upper Galilee (Israel) (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

    Timm, A., Buse, J., Dayan, T., Härdtle, W., Levanony, T. & Aßmann, T., 01.01.2009, In: Zoology in the Middle East. 47, 1, p. 93-104 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Consumerist lifestyles in the context of globalization: investigating scenarios of homogenization, diversification and hybridization

    Kuhn, K., 01.01.2009, The new middle classes: globalizing lifestyles, consumerism and environmental concern. Lange, H. & Meier, L. (eds.). Dordrecht [u.a.]: Springer Science+Business Media, p. 49-64 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  11. Published

    Elbe DSS: a planning support system for strategic river basin planning

    Hahn, B. M., Kofalk, S., Kok, J.-L., Berlekamp, J. & Evers, M., 01.01.2009, Planning support systems: best practice and new methods. Geertman, S. & Stillwell, J. (eds.). [Dordrecht]: Springer, p. 113-136 24 p. (GeoJournal Library; vol. 95).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review