The investigation of the environment and its change is of essential significance for our understanding of life, living conditions and their development on earth. One of the core competencies for sustainability in the 21^st century is the understanding of the continuous evolution of the system earth as well as the awareness of the consequences of human behavior on the quality of life on our planet. The Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Basel thus aims at investigating the complex interactions of biosphere, geosphere and anthroposphere at the highest stage to convey the results to students and the public.