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. Published

    Atmospheric fate of poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs): I. Day-night patterns of air concentrations in summer in Zurich, Switzerland

    Müller, C., Gerecke, A., Bogdal, C., Wang, Z., Scheringer, M. & Hungerbühler, K., 10.2012, In: Environmental Pollution. 169, p. 196-203 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Atmospheric gas-particle partitioning versus gaseous/particle-bound deposition of SVOCs: Why they are not equivalent

    Glüge, J., Bogdal, C., Scheringer, M. & Hungerbühler, K., 08.2015, In: Atmospheric Environment. 115, p. 317-324 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Atmospheric mercury over sea ice during the OASIS-2009 campaign

    Steffen, A., Bottenheim, J., Cole, A., Douglas, T. A., Ebinghaus, R., Friess, U., Netcheva, S., Nghiem, S., Sihler, H. & Staebler, R., 24.07.2013, In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 13, 14, p. 7007-7021 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada

    Steffen, A., Bottenheim, J. W., Cole, A. S., Ebinghaus, R., Lawson, G. S. & Leaitch, W. R., 03.03.2014, In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 14, 5, p. 2219-2231 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Atmospheric occurrence and fate of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizer at the German coast

    Wolschke, H., Sühring, R., Mi, W., Möller, A., Xie, Z. & Ebinghaus, R., 07.2016, In: Atmospheric Environment. 137, p. 1-5 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    A trainable object finder, selector and identifier for pollen, spores and other things: A step towards automated pollen recognition in lake sediments

    Theuerkauf, M., Siradze, N. & Gillert, A., 01.03.2024, In: Holocene. 34, 3, p. 297-305 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    A trait-based framework linking the soil metabolome to plant–soil feedbacks

    Delory, B. M., Callaway, R. M. & Semchenko, M., 03.2024, In: New Phytologist. 241, 5, p. 1910-1921 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    A transdisciplinary framework for university-industry collaboration in establishing a social business model

    Cheah, J. S. S., Amran, A., Kirubakaran, M., Lang, D. J., Su, P. F. & Chu, J. W., 20.06.2023, In: Social Enterprise Journal. 19, 4, p. 390-403 14 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

    At the Limit: Introducing Energy with Human Senses

    Stinken, L., Carmesin, H.-O. & Heusler, S., 01.12.2016, In: The Physics Teacher. 54, 9, p. 552-555 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesEducationpeer-review