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. 2015
  2. Published

    The ethics of offsetting nature

    Ives, C. D. & Bekessy, S. A., 12.2015, In: Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 13, 10, p. 568-573 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Vasodilatierende Substanzen in Kläranlagenabläufen und Oberflächengewässern

    Hensen, B., Faubel, C., Palm, W. U. & Steffen, D., 12.2015, In: Wasser und Abfall. 17, 12, p. 44-49 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Direct and Mn-Controlled Indirect Iron Oxidation by Leptothrix discophora SS-1 and Leptothrix cholodnii

    Eggerichs, T., Otte, T., Opel, O. & Ruck, W., 26.11.2015, In: Geomicrobiology Journal. 32, 10, p. 934-943 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    UN Global Action Programme and Education for Sustainable Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Base

    Fischer, D., Aubrecht, E. L., Brück, M., Ditges, L., Gathen, L., Jahns, M., Petersmann, M., Rau, J. & Wellmann, C., 24.11.2015, In: Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education. 6, 1, p. 5-20 16 p., 1.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Socioecological drivers facilitating biodiversity conservation in traditional farming landscapes

    Dorresteijn, I., Loos, J., Hanspach, J. & Fischer, J., 20.11.2015, In: Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 1, 9, p. 1-9 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Elementary school children contribute to environmental research as citizen scientists

    Miczajka, V. L., Klein, A. M. & Pufal, G., 18.11.2015, In: PLoS ONE. 10, 11, 10 p., e0143229.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Envisioning the Future of Water Governance: A Survey of Central Arizona Water Decision Makers

    White, D. D., Withycombe Keeler, L., Wiek, A. & Larson, K. L., 17.11.2015, In: Environmental Practice. 17, 1, p. 25-35 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Identification of phototransformation products of the antiepileptic drug gabapentin: Biodegradability and initial assessment of toxicity

    Herrmann, M., Menz, J., Olsson, O. & Kümmerer, K., 15.11.2015, In: Water Research. 85, p. 11-21 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Photolytic transformation products and biological stability of the hydrological tracer Uranine

    Gutowski, L., Olsson, O., Lange, J. & Kümmerer, K., 15.11.2015, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 533, p. 446-453 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Pollution exposure on marine protected areas: A global assessment

    Partelow, S., von Wehrden, H. & Horn, O., 15.11.2015, In: Marine Pollution Bulletin. 100, 1, p. 352-358 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  12. Published

    Throughfall kinetic energy in young subtropical forests: Investigation on tree species richness effects and spatial variability

    Goebes, P., Seitz, S., Kühn, P., Li, Y., Niklaus, P. A., Oheimb, G. V. & Scholten, T., 15.11.2015, In: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 213, p. 148-159 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  13. Published

    Palaeodose underestimation of heated quartz in red-TL dating of volcanic contexts

    Richter, D., Klinger, P. & Zöller, L., 07.11.2015, In: Geochronometria. 42, 1, p. 182-188 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    A cognitive mapping approach to understanding public objection to energy infrastructure: The case of wind power in Galicia, Spain

    Upham, P. & García Pérez, J., 01.11.2015, In: Renewable Energy. 83, p. 587-596 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    Antibiotics and sweeteners in the aquatic environment: biodegradability, formation of phototransformation products, and in vitro toxicity

    Bergheim, M., Gminski, R., Spangenberg, B., Debiak, M., Bürkle, A., Mersch-Sundermann, V., Kümmerer, K. & Gieré, R., 01.11.2015, In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 22, 22, p. 18017-18030 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Assessing the environmental fate of S-metolachlor, its commercial product Mercantor Gold® and their photoproducts using a water-sediment test and in silico methods

    Gutowski, L., Baginska, E., Olsson, O., Leder, C. & Kümmerer, K., 01.11.2015, In: Chemosphere. 138, p. 847-855 9 p., 16405.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Cultural Practices, Norms, and Values

    Frese, M., 01.11.2015, In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 46, 10, p. 1327-1330 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Design and evaluation of learning processes in an international sustainability oriented study programme. In search of a new educational quality and assessment method

    Dlouha, J. & Burandt, S., 01.11.2015, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 106, p. 247-258 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Estimation of baseflow and water transfer in karst catchments in Mediterranean Turkey by nonlinear recession analysis

    Eris, E. & Wittenberg, H., 01.11.2015, In: Journal of Hydrology. 530, p. 500-507 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Field measurement of ammonia emissions after nitrogen fertilization-A comparison between micrometeorological and chamber methods

    Ni, K., Köster, J. R., Seidel, A. & Pacholski, A., 01.11.2015, In: European Journal of Agronomy. 71, p. 115-122 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    How much sustainability substance is in urban visions? An analysis of visioning projects in urban planning

    John, B., Keeler, L. W., Wiek, A. & Lang, D. J., 01.11.2015, In: Cities. 48, p. 86 - 98 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review