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

    Verhandeln

    Trötschel, R., Höhne, B., Majer, J. M., Loschelder, D. D., Deller, J. & Frey, D., 20.02.2017, Kommunikation, Interaktion und soziale Gruppenprozesse. Bierhoff, H.-W. & Frey, D. (eds.). 1 ed. Göttingen: Hogrefe Verlag, p. 803-846 44 p. (Enzyklopädie der Psychologie; vol. 6, no. 3).

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

  2. Published

    Cities are hotspots for threatened species

    Ives, C. D., Lentini, P. E., Threlfall, C. G., Ikin, K., Shanahan, D. F., Garrard, G. E., Bekessy, S. A., Fuller, R. A., Mumaw, L., Rayner, L., Rowe, R., Valentine, L. E. & Kendal, D., 01.01.2016, In: Global Ecology and Biogeography. 25, 1, p. 117-126 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Constructed Wetlands Integrated with Advanced Oxidation Processes in Wastewater Treatment for Reuse

    Machado, E. L., Lourenço, A. M., Kist, L. T., Schneider, R. C. S., Kern, D., Lobo, E. A. A., Lutterbeck, C. A., Silveira, D. D., Horn, T. B. & Zerwes, F. V., 2016, Advanced Treatment Technologies for Urban Wastewater Reuse. Fatta-Kassinos, D., Dionysiou, D. D. & Kümmerer, K. (eds.). Cham: Springer Verlag, p. 197-222 26 p. (Handbook of Environmental Chemistry; vol. 45).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  4. Published

    Bioassays currently available for evaluating the biological potency of pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater

    Vasquez, M. I., Michael, I., Kümmerer, K. & Fatta-Kassinos, D., 2016, Wastewater Reuse and Current Challenges. Fatta-Kassinos, D., Dionysiou, D. D. & Kümmerer, K. (eds.). Cham: Springer Verlag, p. 49-80 32 p. (Handbook of Environmental Chemistry; vol. 44).

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

  5. Published

    Thinking about climate change: Young people from Ladakh responding to global warming: An explorative study

    Getzin, S., 13.01.2016, Exploring Alterity in a Globalized World. Wulf, C. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 454-467 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  6. Published

    Novel flame retardants: Estimating the physical-chemical properties and environmental fate of 94 halogenated and organophosphate PBDE replacements

    Zhang, X., Sühring, R., Serodio, D., Bonnell, M., Sundin, N. & Diamond, M. L., 01.02.2016, In: Chemosphere. 144, p. 2401-2407 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Willkommen im Anthropozän

    Niebert, K., 01.04.2016, In: Biologie in Unserer Zeit. 46, 2, p. 75 1 p.

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

  8. Published

    Taming a Wicked Problem: Resolving Controversies in Biodiversity Offsetting

    Maron, M., Ives, C. D., Kujala, H., Bull, J. W., Maseyk, F. J. F., Bekessy, S., Gordon, A., Watson, J. E. M., Lentini, P. E., Gibbons, P., Possingham, H. P., Hobbs, R. J., Keith, D. A., Wintle, B. A. & Evans, M. C., 01.06.2016, In: BioScience. 66, 6, p. 489-498 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  9. Published

    Combustion at the late Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Murcia, Spain)

    Walker, M. J., Anesin, D., Angelucci, D. E., Avilés-Fernández, A., Berna, F., Buitrago-López, A. T., Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Haber-Uriarte, M., López-Jiménez, A., López-Martínez, M., Martín-Lerma, I., Ortega-Rodrigáñez, J., Polo-Camacho, J. L., Rhodes, S. E., Richter, D., Rodríguez-Estrella, T., Schwenninger, J. L. & Skinner, A. R., 01.06.2016, In: Antiquity. 90, 351, p. 571-589 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Enterprise education in pharmacy schools: Experiential learning in institutionally constrained contexts

    Refai, D. & Klapper, R., 06.06.2016, In: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research. 22, 4, p. 485-509 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review