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. 2016
  2. Published

    Thermochemical heat storage materials: Performance of mixed salt hydrates

    Rammelberg, H. U., Osterland, T., Priehs, B., Opel, O. & Ruck, W. K. L., 15.10.2016, In: Solar Energy. 136, p. 571-589 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Understanding role models for change: a multilevel analysis of success factors of grassroots initiatives for sustainable consumption

    Grabs, J., Langen, N., Maschkowski, G. & Schäpke, N., 15.10.2016, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 134 , Part A, p. 98-111 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Non-native populations of an invasive tree outperform their native conspecifics

    Hirsch, H., Hensen, I., Wesche, K., Renison, D., Wypior, C., Hartmann, M. & von Wehrden, H., 13.10.2016, In: AoB PLANTS. 8, 11 p., plw071.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Advancing the Integration of Corporate Sustainability Measurement, Management, and Reporting

    Maas, K., Schaltegger, S. & Crutzen, N., 01.10.2016, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 133, p. 859-862 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Bright spots: seeds of a good Anthropocene

    Bennett, E. M., Solan, M., Biggs, R., McPhearson, T., Norström, A. V., Olsson, P., Pereira, L., Peterson, G. D., Raudsepp-Hearne, C., Biermann, F., Carpenter, S. R., Ellis, E. C., Hichert, T., Galaz, V., Lahsen, M., Milkoreit, M., Martín-López, B., Nicholas, K. A., Preiser, R., Vince, G., Vervoort, J. M. & Xu, J., 01.10.2016, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 14, 8, p. 441-448 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Does Internet-based guided self-help for depression cause harm? An individual participant data meta-analysis on deterioration rates and its moderators in randomized controlled trials

    Ebert, D. D., Donkin, L., Andersson, G., Andrews, G., Berger, T. K., Carlbring, P., Rozental, A., Choi, I., Laferton, J. A. C., Johansson, R., Kleiboer, A., Lange, A., Lehr, D., Reins, J. A., Funk, B., Newby, J., Perini, S., Riper, H., Ruwaard, J., Sheeber, L., Snoek, F., Titov, N., Ünlü Ince, B., Van Bastelaar, K. M. P., Vernmark, K., Van Straten, A., Warmerdam, L., Salsman, N. & Cuijpers, P., 01.10.2016, In: Psychological Medicine. 46, 13, p. 2679-2693 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  8. Published

    Fermentative lactic acid production from coffee pulp hydrolysate using Bacillus coagulans at laboratory and pilot scales

    Pleissner, D., Neu, A.-K., Mehlmann, K., Schneider, R., Puerta-Quintero, G. I. & Venus, J., 01.10.2016, In: Bioresource Technology. 218, p. 167-173 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia: A Health Economic Evaluation

    Thiart, H., Ebert, D. D., Lehr, D., Nobis, S., Buntrock, C., Berking, M., Smit, F. & Riper, H., 01.10.2016, In: Sleep. 39, 10, p. 1769-1778 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Local organochlorine pesticide concentrations in soil put into a global perspective

    Camenzuli, L., Scheringer, M. & Hungerbühler, K., 01.10.2016, In: Environmental Pollution. 217, p. 11-18 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  11. Published
  12. Published

    Resources or landmarks: which factors drive homing success in Tetragonula carbonaria foraging in natural and disturbed landscapes?

    Leonhardt, S. D., Kaluza, B. F., Wallace, H. & Heard, T. A., 01.10.2016, In: Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology. 202, 9-10, p. 701-708 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    UV-photodegradation of desipramine: Impact of concentration, pH and temperature on formation of products including their biodegradability and toxicity

    Khaleel, N. D. H., Mahmoud, W. M. M., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 01.10.2016, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 566-567, p. 826-840 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Feuer kann man nicht nur sehen: Kinder erforschen Verbrennungsprozesse

    Bolek, R., 10.2016, In: Grundschule Sachunterricht. 72, p. 10-16 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesEducationpeer-review

  15. Published

    The long-term effects of wall attached microalgal biofilm on algae-based wastewater treatment

    Su, Y., Mennerich, A. & Urban, B., 10.2016, In: Bioresource Technology. 218, p. 1249-1252 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Bioconversion of agri-food residues into lactic acid

    Venus, J. & Pleißner, D., 29.09.2016, The 15th International Symposium Prospects for me: Book of Abstracts. Vondnar, D. C. (ed.). Cluj-Napoca, Rumänien: University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, p. 125 1 p. (University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca; no. 3/2016).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksPublished abstract in conference proceedingsResearch

  17. Published

    A social–ecological perspective on harmonizing food security and biodiversity conservation

    Wittman, H., Chappell, M. J., Abson, D. J., Kerr, R. B., Blesh, J., Hanspach, J., Perfecto, I. & Fischer, J., 26.09.2016, In: Regional Environmental Change. 17, 5, p. 1291-1301 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Telomere length and environmental conditions predict stress levels but not parental investment in a long-lived seabird

    Young, R. C., Barger, C. P., Dorresteijn, I., Haussmann, M. F. & Kitaysky, A. S., 08.09.2016, In: Marine Ecology Progress Series. 556, p. 251-259 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    General strategies to increase the repeatability in non-target screening by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry

    Bader, T., Schulz, W., Kümmerer, K. & Winzenbacher, R., 07.09.2016, In: Analytica Chimica Acta. 935, p. 173-186 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    A Global Synthesis of Jatropha Cultivation: Insights into Land Use Change and Management Practices

    Walmsley, D. C., Bailis, R. & Klein, A.-M., 06.09.2016, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 50, 17, p. 8993-9002 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Two types of ‘enough’: sufficiency as minimum and maximum

    Spengler, L., 02.09.2016, In: Environmental Politics. 25, 5, p. 921-940 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review