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. 2010
  2. Published
  3. Published

    The Collaborative Production of Meaningful Measure(ment)s: Preliminary insights into a work in progress

    Bormann, I. & Michelsen, G., 12.12.2010, In: European Educational Research Journal. 9, 4, p. 510-518 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Revealing the coastal event-history of the Andaman Islands (Bay of Bengal) during the Holocene using radiocarbon and OSL dating

    Frechen, M., Ramachandran, R., Urban, B. & Kunz, J.-A., 01.12.2010, In: International Journal of Earth Sciences. 99, 8, p. 1741-1761 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Bush encroachment control and risk management in semi-arid rangelands

    Lukomska, N., Baumgärtner, S. & Quaas, M. F., 12.2010, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 33 p. (University of Lüneburg Working Papers Series in Economics; no. 191).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  6. Published

    Imagining the unimaginable: Synthesis of essays on abrupt and extreme climate change

    Martens, P., Aerts, J. C. J. H., Amelung, B., Bouwer, L. M., Chang, C. T., Huynen, M., van Ierland, E. C., van Koppen, C. S. A. K., McEvoy, D., Mol, A. P. J. & van Tatenhove, J., 12.2010, In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 2, 5-6, p. 347-355 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Methodische Behandlung interner Materialkreisläufe in der Materialflusskostenrechnung

    Viere, T., Möller, A. & Schmidt, M., 12.2010, In: Umweltwirtschaftsforum. 18, 3-4, p. 203-208 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Neuartige Spurenstoffe im Wasser

    Kümmerer, K., 12.2010, In: Hydrologie und Wasserbewirtschaftung. 54, 6, p. 349-359 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Seasonal Contrasts in the Response of Coffee Ants to Agroforestry Shade-Tree Management

    Teodoro, A. V., Sousa-Souto, L., Klein, A.-M. & Tscharntke, T., 12.2010, In: Environmental Entomology. 39, 6, p. 1744-1750 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Synapses in the Network: Learning in Governance Networks in the Context of Environmental Management

    Newig, J., Guenther, D. & Pahl-Wostl, C., 12.2010, In: Ecology and Society. 15, 4, 16 p., 24.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    What is Social Learning? Response to Pahl-Wostl. 2006. “The Importance of Social Learning in Restoring the Multifunctionalityof Rivers and Floodplains”

    Reed, M. S., Evely, A. C., Cundill, G., Fazey, I., Glass, J., Laing, A., Newig, J., Parrish, B., Prell, C., Raymond, C. & Stringer, L., 12.2010, In: Ecology and Society. 15, 4, 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  12. Published

    Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement auf dem Vormarsch: Corporate Sustainability Barometer

    Harms, D., Schaltegger, S. & Windolph, S. E., 26.11.2010, In: Ökologisches Wirtschaften. 24, 4, p. 10 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  13. Published

    Bottom-up effects of plant diversity on multitrophic interactions in a biodiversity experiment

    Scherber, C., Eisenhauer, N., Weisser, W. W., Schmid, B., Voigt, W., Fischer, M., Schulze, E.-D., Roscher, C., Weigelt, A., Allan, E., Bonkowski, M., Buchmann, N., Buscot, F., Clement, L. W., Ebeling, A., Engels, C., Halle, S., Kertscher, I., Klein, A.-M., Koller, R., König, S., Kowalski, E., Kummer, V., Kuu, A., Lange, M., Lauterbach, D., Middelhoff, C., Migunova, V. D., Milcu, A., Müller, R., Partsch, S., Petermann, J. S., Renker, C., Rottstock, T., Sabais, A., Scheu, S., Temperton, V. M., Schumacher, J., Tscharntke, T. & Beler, H., 25.11.2010, In: Nature. 468, 7323, p. 553-556 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  14. Published

    Synthesis of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids with the Weakly Coordinating [Al(ORF)(4)](-) Anion (R-F = C(H)(CF3)(2)) and the Determination of Their Principal Physical Properties

    Bulut, S., Klose, P., Huang, M.-M., Weingartner, H., Dyson, P. J., Laurenczy, G., Friedrich, C., Menz, J., Kummerer, K. & Krossing, I., 22.11.2010, In: Chemistry - A European Journal. 16, 44, p. 13139-13154 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  15. Published

    The State of Multimedia Mass-Balance Modeling in Environmental science and decision-making

    MacLeod, M., Scheringer, M., McKone, T. E. & Hungerbuhler, K., 15.11.2010, In: Environmental Science & Technology. 44, 22, p. 8360-8364 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    Accumulation of total trace metals due to rapid urbanization in microtidal zone of Pallikaranai marsh, South of Chennai, India

    Muthumanickam, J., Urban, B., Velmurugan, P. M. & Srinivasalu, S., 01.11.2010, In: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 170, 1-4, p. 609-629 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  17. Published
  18. Published

    Mass-Mediated Expertise as Informal Policy Advice

    Petersen, I., Heinrichs, H. & Peters, H. P., 01.11.2010, In: Science, Technology and Human Values. 35, 6, p. 865-887 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  19. Published

    Polyfluorinated compounds in residential and nonresidential indoor air

    Langer, V., Dreyer, A. & Ebinghaus, R., 01.11.2010, In: Environmental Science and Technology. 44, 21, p. 8075-8081 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    Spatial distribution models in a frugivorous carnivore, the stone marten (Martes foina): Is the fleshy-fruit availability a useful predictor?

    Virgós, E., Cabezas-Díaz, S., Mangas, J. G. & Lozano, J., 01.11.2010, In: Animal Biology. 60, 4, p. 423-436 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Invertebrate diversity and national responsibility for species conservation across Europe: A multi-taxon approach

    Schuldt, A. & Aßmann, T., 11.2010, In: Biological Conservation. 143, 11, p. 2747-2756 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review