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

    Synthesis, self-assembly, bacterial and fungal toxicity, and preliminary biodegradation studies of a series of L-phenylalanine-derived surface-active ionic liquids

    Kapitanov, I. V., Jordan, A., Karpichev, Y., Spulak, M., Perez, L., Kellett, A., Kümmerer, K. & Gathergood, N., 07.04.2019, In: Green Chemistry . 21, 7, p. 1777-1794 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Clusters of water governance problems and their effects on policy delivery

    Kirschke, S., Franke, C., Newig, J. & Borchardt, D., 03.04.2019, In: Policy and Society. 38, 2, p. 255-277 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Seeking sustainability competence and capability in the ESD and HESD literature: an international philosophical hermeneutic analysis

    Shepard, K., Rieckmann, M. & Barth, M., 03.04.2019, In: Environmental Education Research. 25, 4, p. 532 - 547 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Author Correction: Biocultural approaches to pollinator conservation (Nature Sustainability, (2019), 2, 3, (214-222), 10.1038/s41893-019-0244-z)

    Hill, R., Nates-Parra, G., Quezada-Euán, J. J. G., Buchori, D., LeBuhn, G., Maués, M. M., Pert, P. L., Kwapong, P. K., Saeed, S., Breslow, S. J., da Cunha, M. C., Dicks, L. V., Galetto, L., Gikungu, M., Howlett, B. G., Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L., Lyver, P. O. B., Martín-López, B., Oteros-Rozas, E., Potts, S. G. & Roué, M., 01.04.2019, In: Nature Sustainability. 2, 4, p. 348-348 1 p.

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

  6. Published

    Conservation value of moist evergreen Afromontane forest sites with different management and history in southwestern Ethiopia

    Shumi, G., Rodrigues, P., Schultner, J., Dorresteijn, I., Hanspach, J., Hylander, K., Senbeta, F. & Fischer, J., 01.04.2019, In: Biological Conservation. 232, p. 117-126 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Das Reflexivitätsproblem und die Kategorienlehre: Versuch einer Aktualisierung

    Schmieg, G., 01.04.2019, Nicolai Hartmanns Neue Ontologie und die Philosophische Anthropologie: Menschliches Leben in Natur und Geist. von Kalckreuth, M., Schmieg, G. & Hausen, F. (eds.). Walter de Gruyter GmbH, p. 63-88 26 p. (Philosophische Anthropologie; vol. 11).

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

  8. Published

    Einleitung

    von Kalckreuth, M., Schmieg, G. & Hausen, F., 01.04.2019, Nicolai Hartmanns Neue Ontologie und die Philosophische Anthropologie: Menschliches Leben in Natur und Geist. von Kalckreuth, M., Schmieg, G. & Hausen, F. (eds.). Walter de Gruyter GmbH, p. 1-10 (Philosophische Anthropologie; vol. 11).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksOtherResearch

  9. Published

    Fast response of groundwater to heavy rainfall

    Wittenberg, H., Aksoy, H. & Miegel, K., 01.04.2019, In: Journal of Hydrology. 571, p. 837-842 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published
  11. Published

    Phasing-out Coal in Germany – Not Only, But Also a Legal Challenge

    Schomerus, C.-T., 01.04.2019, In: Renewable Energy Law & Policy Review. 9, 2, p. 60-67 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer

  12. Published
  13. Published

    Nicolai Hartmanns Neue Ontologie und die Philosophische Anthropologie: Menschliches Leben in Natur und Geist

    von Kalckreuth, M. (Editor), Schmieg, G. (Editor) & Hausen, F. (Editor), 04.2019, Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 284 p. (Philosophische Anthropologie; vol. 11)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  14. Published

    Wirtschaftskriege - Geschichte und Gegenwart

    Oermann, N. O. & Wolff, H.-J., 04.2019, Freiburg: Verlag Herder GmbH. 271 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  15. Published

    Is seashell powder suitable for phosphate recovery from fermentation broth?

    Peinemann, J. C., Krenz, L. & Pleißner, D., 25.03.2019, In: New Biotechnology. 49, p. 43-47 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Umgang mit Pestiziden und deren Transformationsprodukten bei der Regenwasserbewirtschaftung

    Olsson, O., Hensen, B., Kümmerer, K., Lange, J. & Jackisch, N., 20.03.2019, Gewässerschutz Wasser Abwasser: 52. Essener Tagung für Wasserwirtschaft. Pinnekamp, J. (ed.). Aachen: Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft an der RWTH Aachen e.V., Vol. 250. p. 24/1 - 24/8 8 p. (Gewässerschutz, Wasser, Abwasser ; vol. 250).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsTransfer

  17. Published

    All-affected, Non-identity and the Political Representation of Future Generations: Linking Intergenerational Justice with Democracy

    Rose, M., 19.03.2019, Intergenerational Equity: Environmental and Cultural Concerns. Cottier, T., Lalani, S. & Siziba, C. (eds.). Leiden, Boston: Brill Nijhoff Verlag, p. 32-51 20 p. (World Trade Institute Advanced Studies; vol. 4).

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

  18. Published

    Für welche ´Natur/en´ sorgen wir? Kritische feministische Perspektiven auf aktuelle Care-Debatten im sozial-ökologischen Kontext

    Hofmeister, S., Mölders, T., Deininger, M. & Kapitza, K., 19.03.2019, In: Gender. 11, 1, p. 125-139 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  19. Published

    Research on the social perception of invasive species: a systematic literature review

    Kapitza, K., Zimmermann, H., Martín-López, B. & Wehrden, H. V., 14.03.2019, In: NeoBiota. 43, p. 47-68 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Just a small bunch of flowers: The botanical knowledge of students and the positive effects of courses in plant identification at German universities

    Buck, T., Bruchmann, I., Zumstein, P. & Drees, C., 13.03.2019, In: PeerJ. 7, 3, 23 p., e6581.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Interactive influence of livestock grazing and manipulated rainfall on soil properties in a humid tropical savanna

    Okach, D. O., Ondier, J. O., Kumar, A., Rambold, G., Tenhunen, J., Huwe, B. & Otieno, D., 11.03.2019, In: Journal of Soils and Sediments. 19, 3, p. 1088-1098 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review