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. 2013
  2. Published

    EduCamp - Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung in Ägypten

    Mader, M., Sewilam, H. & Mader, C., 05.2013, Bildung für Nachhaltige Entwicklung: Jahrbuch 2013. F. U. F. N. E. (ed.). Wien: FORUM Umweltbildung im Umweltdachverband, p. 139-145 7 p.

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

  3. Published

    Land use changes and ground dwelling beetle conservation in extensive grazing dehesa systems of north-west Spain

    Garcia-Tejero, S., Taboada Palomares, A., Tarrega, R. & Salgado, J. M., 05.2013, In: Biological Conservation. 161, p. 58-66 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Managing invasive species amidst high uncertainty and novelty

    Larson, B. M. H., Kueffer, C., the ZiF Working Group on Ecological Novelty & Klein, A.-M., 05.2013, In: Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 28, 5, p. 255-256 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  5. Published

    Scale-dependent diversity patterns affect spider assemblages of two contrasting forest ecosystems

    Schuldt, A., Aßmann, T. & Schaefer, M., 05.2013, In: Acta Oecologica. 49, p. 17-22 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Transdisciplinarity in Corporate Sustainability: Mapping the Field

    Schaltegger, S., Beckmann, M. & Hansen, E. G., 05.2013, In: Business Strategy and the Environment. 22, 4, p. 219-229 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Worldwide distribution of Persistent Organic Pollutants in air, including results of air monitoring by passive air sampling in five continents

    Bogdal, C., Scheringer, M., Abad, E., Abalos, M., van Bavel, B., Hagberg, J. & Fiedler, H., 05.2013, In: Trends in Analytical Chemistry. 46, p. 150-161 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Produktive Funktionen von Kollaps und Zerstörung für gesellschaftliche Transformationsprozesse in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit

    Newig, J. & Balsam, R., 29.04.2013, Soziale Innovation und Nachhaltigkeit: Perspektiven sozialen Wandels. Rückert-John, J. (ed.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 133-149 17 p. (Innovation und Gesellschaft).

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

  9. Published

    Chronic ecotoxic effects to Pseudomonas putida and Vibrio fischeri, and cytostatic and genotoxic effects to the hepatoma cell line (HepG2) of ofloxacin photo(cata)lytically treated solutions

    Vasquez, M., Garcia-Käufer, M., Hapeshi, E., Menz, J., Kostarelos, K., Fatta-Kassinos, D. & Kümmerer, K., 15.04.2013, In: The Science of The Total Environment. 450-451, p. 356-365 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The Upcycle: Beyond sustainability Designing for abundance

    Braungart, M. & McDonough, W., 13.04.2013, New York : North Point Press. 227 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  11. Published

    Medien und klimabewusstes Verhalten: Die Bedeutung des Fernsehens für ein nachhaltiges Alltagshandeln bei Jugendlichen

    Lüdecke, G., 04.04.2013, München: Oekom Verlag. 287 p. (Hochschulschriften zur Nachhaltigkeit; vol. 58)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Multiple Glacial Refugia of the Low-Dispersal Ground Beetle Carabus irregularis: Molecular Data Support Predictions of Species Distribution Models

    Homburg, K., Drees, C., Gossner, M. M., Rakosy, L., Vrezec, A. & Aßmann, T., 04.04.2013, In: PLoS ONE. 8, 4, 12 p., e61185.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published
  14. Published

    The influence of agricultural system, stand structural complexity and landscape context on foraging birds in oil palm landscapes

    Azhar, B., Lindenmayer, D. B., Wood, J., Manning, A., McElhinny, C., Zakaria, M. & Fischer, J., 01.04.2013, In: Ibis. 155, 2, p. 297-312 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    A Global Classroom for International Sustainability Education

    Wiek, A., Bernstein, M. J., Laubichler, M., Minteer, B., Lang, D. J. & Caniglia, G., 04.2013, In: Creative Education. 4, 4A, p. 19 - 28 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Allele elimination recalculated: nested subset analyses for molecular biogeographical data

    Habel, J. C., Ulrich, W. & Aßmann, T., 04.2013, In: Journal of Biogeography. 40, 4, p. 769-777 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published

    Business Models for Sustainable Innovation: State-of-the-Art and Steps Towards a Research Agenda

    Boons, F. A. A. & Lüdeke-Freund, F., 04.2013, In: Journal of Cleaner Production. 45, p. 9-19 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Collaboration between the natural, social and human sciences in Global Change Research

    Holm, P., Goodsite, M. E., Cloetingh, S. A. P. L., Agnoletti, M., Moldan, B., Lang, D. J., Leemans, R., Moeller, J. O., Buendía, M. P., Pohl, W., Scholz, R. W., Sors, A., Vanheusden, B., Yusoff, K. & Zondervan, R., 04.2013, In: Environmental Science & Policy. 28, Special Issue, p. 25-35 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Environmental Protection of Foreign Firms in Germany: Does the country of origin matter?

    Weche Gelübcke, J. P. & Wedl, I., 04.2013, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 39 p. (Working Paper Series in Economics; no. 267).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  20. Published

    Lipids in preventive dentistry

    Kensche, A., Reich, M., Kümmerer, K., Hannig, M. & Hannig, C., 04.2013, In: Clinical Oral Investigations. 17, 3, p. 669-685 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  21. Published

    Many roads lead to sustainability: A process-oriented analysis of change in higher education

    Barth, M., 04.2013, In: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 14, 2, p. 160-175 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesTransfer