Masters

SPEP MSc

Sustainability Planning & Environmental Policy
2 years, part-time

This MSc enables students to develop critical learning and applied skills in the field of contemporary sustainability.

Professionally recognised

Accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (Specialist).

Balance theory, policy and practice

Link theoretical debates about sustainability at different spatial scales with practical dimensions of policy creation and implementation.

Follow your interests

The scope to focus on environmental problems and environmental policy in a range of sectors, including planning, food/agriculture, transport and housing.

Transferable skills

Develop sustainability-relevant research skills ideal for academic progression or professional practice.

Develop your knowledge and understanding of sustainability theory, principles and practice and be empowered to influence and progress policy and planning solutions for the environmental and sustainability challenges faced by government, business and regulatory bodies.

Our MSc in Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy addresses three key dimensions that will provide you with the skills and knowledge to contribute to future policy development and help tackle sensitive environmental and sustainability issues. We will consider:

1. Principles and process - asking how policies may, or may not, achieve more sustainable development.
2. Resource sector studies – comparative and in-depth analysis of sustainability issues in key economic sectors (including food, transport, renewable energy and housing).
3. Research training – helping you to develop sustainability-relevant research skills ideal for academic progression, and professional practice.

You’ll benefit from teaching which links together theoretical debates about sustainability at different spatial scales, informed by the latest social science research around environmental problems, with the practical dimensions of policy formulation and implementation. The planning system is given particular attention because it provides one of the most sophisticated contemporary mechanisms for regulating environmental change.

Course structure

Part-time normally 2 years (may be extended to 3). Divided into two parts:

1. Part one comprises a teaching programme of core and optional modules over four semesters.
2. Part two comprises an individual dissertation on a topic selected you will select in consultation with members of staff. Whilst there are few constraints on the choice of topic, it must address the core course themes of sustainability, environmental policy and planning.

Accreditations

• Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

I was originally looking at the full-time course:

MSc Environment & Development

This MSc in Environment and Development aims to investigate, question and explore alternatives to the prevailing tensions and interdependencies between development and socio-ecological systems.

Current agenda

Consider the politicised interconnections between socio-economic demands and environmental degradation.

Breadth and depth

Cover the breadth of environment and development issues or focus on select fields (such as economic sectors, natural resources, public services).

Expert-led

Learn from and engage with research-active staff who are working at the forefront of the discipline.

Multi-scale exploration

Examine lived experience of development and socio-ecological change across different levels and time periods.

Environmental challenges and development concerns are high on the international policy agenda. Our MSc Environment and Development programme encourages you to consider the politicised interconnections between socio-economic demands (the search for growth) and environmental degradation, as well as the tensions between the state and society’s outlooks.

We cover a wide range of environment and development challenges or but you can also choose to focus on certain substantive fields (such as economic sectors, natural resources, public services, governance issues, environmental management or urban and rural regions). You’ll develop your critical thinking skills and ability to examine the justification, trends and limitations of conventional responses to prevailing tensions and mounting challenges.

You’ll consider the lived experience of development and socio-ecological change at different levels – local, regional, national and global – and across different time periods. With a focus on the Global North and the Global South, you’ll study past legacies and socio-cultural influences, the allocation of resources, and the challenges to contain environmental degradation and foster environmental justice.

The programme allows you to: understand the ideological positions that influence development policies and the failures of environmental management; review tendencies to convert nature into resources and private property; the formulation and implementation of environmental regulation; the commitments and failures of the apparatus of the state; the interaction between socio-economic sectors, groups and communities; the social and cultural basis of development and environmental change; and, the political reactions, grassroots mobilisation and alliances across different geographical scales, countries and locations.

Consideration is also given to why and how the development appeal continues to influence governments, social groups and international relations while generating uneven, short-term gains and long-lasting impacts. The limitations of policies influenced by environmentalism and narrow sustainability agendas, which commonly fail to address wider social, political and economic expectations, will be a key component of this discussion.