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. 2008
  2. Published

    Microsatellites and allozymes as the genetic memory of habitat fragmentation and defragmentation in populations of the ground beetle Carabus auronitens (Col., Carabidae)

    Drees, C., Matern, A., Rasplus, J.-Y., Terlutter, H., Aßmann, T. & Weber, F., 01.10.2008, In: Journal of Biogeography. 35, 10, p. 1937-1949 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    A new species of Philorhizus Hope, 1838 from Greece (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Lebiini)

    Wrase, D. W. & Aßmann, T., 16.09.2008, In: ZooKeys. 3, p. 1-10 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Time sensitivity: a delicate and crucial starting point of reflexive methods for studying time in management and organisations

    Sabelis, I., 09.09.2008, Time in organizational research. Roe, R. A., Walter, M. J. & Clegg, S. R. (eds.). London [u.a.]: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 167-185 19 p. (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society; vol. 3).

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

  5. Published

    Calibration of the Chemcatcher ® passive sampler for monitoring selected polar and semi-polar pesticides in surface water

    Gunold, R., Schäfer, R. B., Paschke, A., Schüermann, G. & Liess, M., 01.09.2008, In: Environmental Pollution. 155, 1, p. 52-60 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Ecological design & engineering for urban environments

    Braungart, M., Darlington, A., Garland, J., Lucey, W. P., Peck, S. & Peeters, J., 01.09.2008, In: Industrial Biotechnology. 4, 3, p. 211-223 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  7. Published

    Editorial: Questioning the construction of "balance": a time perspective on gender and organization

    Sabelis, I., Nencel, L., Knights, D. & Odih, P., 01.09.2008, In: Gender, Work & Organization. 15, 5, p. 423-429 7 p.

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

  8. Published

    Erbguth/Schlacke: Umweltrecht

    Schomerus, T., 09.2008, In: Natur und Recht. 30, 9, p. 626-626 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  9. Published

    Sustainability, Substance Flow Management and Time: Part I: Temporal Analysis of Substance Flows

    Kümmerer, K. & Hofmeister, S., 09.2008, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 88, 4, p. 1333-1342 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Bedrohte Vielfalt: Biodiversität

    Busch, A. & Kuhn, K., 26.08.2008, 1. ed. Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. 72 p. (Themenblätter im Unterricht; no. 75)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCompendium/lecture notesEducation

  11. Published

    HPLC and chemometrics-assisted UV-spectroscopy methods for the simultaneous determination of ambroxol and doxycycline in capsule.

    Hadad, G. M., El-Gindy, A. & Mahmoud, W. M. M., 01.08.2008, In: Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. 70, 3, p. 655-663 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  12. Published

    NH4+ ad-/desorption in sequencing batch reactors: simulation, laboratory and full-scale studies

    Schwitalla, P., Mennerich, A., Austermann-Haun, U., Müller, A., Gruber-Dorninger, C., Daims, H., Holm, N. C. & Rönner-Holm, S. G. E., 01.08.2008, In: Water Science and Technology. 58, 2, p. 345-350 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  13. Published

    The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Company-Level Measurement Approach for CSR

    Weber, M., 01.08.2008, In: European Management Journal. 26, 4, p. 247-261 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  14. Published
  15. Published

    The Carabus fauna of Israel - updated identification key, faunistics, and habitats (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

    Aßmann, T., Buse, J., Drees, C., Friedman, A.-L.-L., Levanony, T., Matern, A., Timm, A. & Wrase, D. W., 04.07.2008, In: ZooKeys. 1, p. 9-22 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  16. Published

    ZooKeys, unlocking Earth's incredible biodiversity and building a sustainable bridge into the public domain: From "print-based" to "web-based" taxonomy, systematics, and natural history ZooKeys Editorial Opening Paper

    Penev, L. D., Erwin, T. L., Thompson, F. C., Sues, H.-D., Engel, M. S., Agosti, D., Pyle, R., Ivie, M., Henry, T., Miller, J., Ananjeva, N. B., Casale, A., Lourenco, W., Golovatch, S., Fagerholm, H.-P., Taiti, S., Alonso-Zarazaga, M., van Nieukerken, E. & Aßmann, T., 04.07.2008, In: ZooKeys. 1, p. 1-7 7 p.

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

  17. Published

    Factors affecting fruit set in Aizoaceae species of the Succulent Karoo

    Pufal, G., Mayer, C., Porembski, S. & Juergens, N., 01.07.2008, In: Basic and Applied Ecology. 9, 4, p. 401-409 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  18. Published

    Peer group influences on fifth graders' reading motivation

    von Salisch, M., Philipp, M. & Gölitz, D., 01.06.2008, In: International Journal of Psychology. 43, 3-4, p. 214 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsResearch

  19. Published

    Legitimizing climate policy: The "risk construct" of global climate change in the German mass media

    Peters, H. P. & Heinrichs, H., 06.2008, In: International Journal of Sustainability Communication. 3, p. 14-36 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  20. Published

    On the stabilization of parallel-chord girders for timber constructions

    Eilering, S. & Hente, C., 06.2008, In: Bauingenieur. 83, JUNE, p. 288-296 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  21. Published

    Medialisierung der Wissenschaft als Voraussetzung ihrer Legitimierung und politischen Relevanz

    Peters, H. P., Heinrichs, H., Jung, A., Kallfass, M. & Petersen, I., 27.05.2008, Wissensproduktion und Wissenstransfer: Wissen im Spannungsfeld von Wissenschaft, Politik und Öffentlichkeit. Mayntz, R., Neidhardt, F., Weingart, P. & Wengenroth, U. (eds.). Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, p. 269-292 24 p. (Science Studies).

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