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. 2019
  2. Published

    Neighbour species richness and local structural variability modulate aboveground allocation patterns and crown morphology of individual trees

    Kunz, M., Fichtner, A., Härdtle, W., Raumonen, P., Bruelheide, H. & von Oheimb, G., 01.12.2019, In: Ecology Letters. 22, 12, p. 2130-2140 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Phosphorus status, use and recycling in a Chinese peri-urban region with intensive animal husbandry and cropping systems: Results from case study in a Sino-German applied research collaboration project

    Roelcke, M., Heimann, L., Hou, Y., Guo, J., Xue, Q., Jia, W., Ostermann, A., Huaitalla, R. M., Engbers, M., Olbrich, C., Scholz, R. W., Clemens, J., Schuchardt, F., Nieder, R., Liu, X. & Zhang, F., 01.12.2019, In: Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. 6, 4, p. 388-402 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Purchasing unpackaged food products: An empirical analysis of personal norms and contextual barriers

    Marken, G. H. & Hörisch, J., 01.12.2019, In: NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum. 27, 3-4, p. 165-175 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Root trait plasticity and plant nutrient acquisition in phosphorus limited soil

    Kumar, A., Shahbaz, M., Koirala, M., Blagodatskaya, E., Seidel, S. J., Kuzyakov, Y. & Pausch, J., 01.12.2019, In: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science. 182, 6, p. 945-952 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The impacts of social-ecological system change on human-nature connectedness: A case study from Transylvania, Romania

    Balázsi, Á., Riechers, M., Hartel, T., Leventon, J. & Fischer, J., 01.12.2019, In: Land Use Policy. 89, 104232.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    The Role of Linked Social-Ecological Systems in a Mobile Agent-Based Ecosystem Service from Giant Honey Bees (Apis dorsata) in an Indigenous Community Forest in Palawan, Philippines

    Matias, D. M. S., Borgemeister, C., Sémah, A. M. & von Wehrden, H., 01.12.2019, In: Human Ecology. 47, 6, p. 905-915 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Tomato plants rather than fertilizers drive microbial community structure in horticultural growing media

    Grunert, O., Robles Aguilar, A. A., Hernandez-Sanabria, E., Schrey, S., Reheul, D., Van Labeke, M.-C., Vlaeminck, S. E., Vandekerckhove, T. G. L., Mysara, M., Monsieurs, P., Temperton, V., Boon, N. & Jablonowski, N., 01.12.2019, In: Scientific Reports. 9, 1, 15 p., 9561 .

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Urban areas and urban-rural contrasts under climate change: What does the EURO-CORDEX ensemble tell us?-Investigating near surface humidity in berlin and its surroundings

    Langendijk, G. S., Rechid, D. & Jacob, D., 01.12.2019, In: Atmosphere. 10, 12, 22 p., 730.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    'Where is everybody?' An empirical appraisal of occurrence, prevalence and sustainability of technological species in the Universe

    Engler, J. O. & Von Wehrden, H., 01.12.2019, In: International Journal of Astrobiology. 18, 6, p. 495-501 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Das Reallabor als Forschungsprozess und -infrastruktur für nachhaltige Entwicklung: Konzepte, Herausforderungen und Empfehlungen

    Rose, M., Wanner, M. & Hilger, A., 12.2019, 2 ed., Wuppertal: Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie, 32 p. (Wuppertal Paper; no. 196).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  12. Published

    Occupational e-Mental Health – eine Übersicht zu Ansätzen, Evidenz und Implementierung

    Lehr, D. & Boß, L., 12.2019, Fehlzeiten-Report 2019: Digitalisierung - gesundes Arbeiten ermöglichen. Badura, B., Ducki, A., Schröder, H., Klose, J. & Meyer, M. (eds.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Nature AG, p. 155-178 24 p.

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

  13. Published

    Recent trends in green and sustainable chemistry: rethinking textile waste in a circular economy

    To, M. H., Uisan, K., Ok, Y. S., Pleißner, D. & Lin, C., 12.2019, In: Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. 20, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  14. Published

    Rettet die Bienen! Eine differenzierte Perspektive auf das Bienensterben

    Kater-Wettstädt, L. & Barth, M., 12.2019, Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung im Sachunterricht: Grundlagen und Praxisbeispiele. Wulfmeyer, M. (ed.). Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren, Vol. 43. p. 77-92 16 p. (Basiswissen Grundschule; vol. 43).

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

  15. Published

    To which gender's disadvantage are school grades biased - girls or boys?

    Schuster, C., 12.2019, In: The In-Mind. 42: Gender Special Issue

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransferpeer-review

  16. Published

    When history matters: The overlooked role of priority effects in grassland overyielding

    Delory, B., Weidlich, E. W. A., von Gillhaussen, P. & Temperton, V. M., 12.2019, In: Functional Ecology. 33, 12, p. 2369-2380 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Handbook on Maritime Hybrid Threats — 10 Scenarios and Legal Scans

    Savolainen, J., Gill, T., Schatz, V. J., Ojala, L., Jakstas, T. & Kleemola-Juntunen, P., 22.11.2019, Helsinki: The European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, 54 p. (Hybrid CoE Working Papers; vol. 5).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  18. Published

    Promoting and prolonging the beneficial effects of a vacation with the help of a smartphone-based intervention

    Virtanen, A., de Bloom, J., Reins, J. A., Syrek, C., Lehr, D. & Kinnunen, U., 12.11.2019, In: Gedrag en Organisatie. 32, 4, p. 250-278 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published
  20. Published

    Capital asset substitution as a coping strategy: Practices and implications for food security and resilience in southwestern Ethiopia

    Manlosa, A. O., Schultner, J., Dorresteijn, I. & Fischer, J., 01.11.2019, In: Geoforum. 106, p. 13-23 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Cross-Fertilizing Qualitative Perspectives on Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: An Empirical Comparison of Four Methodical Approaches

    Frank, P., Stanszus, L., Fischer, D., Kehnel, K. & Grossman, P., 01.11.2019, In: Mindfulness. 10, 11, p. 2452–2467 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review