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INTRODUCTION
With increasing recognition of the impact of a world living beyond its means, the commitment to sustainable development in order to meet the needs of present generations without jeopardising those of future generations, has never been more apparent.
The MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development will be of direct relevance to those who wish to develop the skills to make a difference in building a sustainable society. It is of direct relevance to recent graduates as well as those working in sectors dealing with sustainability.
AIM
This innovative programme has been designed in consultation with employers and academics to provide students with:
• in-depth understanding of the theory and practice of leadership in the context of sustainable development and an ability to identify and critically evaluate the role of leadership for sustainable development within a range of organisational contexts
• knowledge of the principles and core themes associated with sustainable development and an ability to critically evaluate best practice within a range of organisational sectors
• an ability to apply knowledge and skills gained from the programme in order to positively contribute to the sustainable development agenda through research projects
• competence in employability skills that will facilitate a professional approach to the work environment
STRUCTURE AND CONTENT
Course Content
The innovative programme embraces action based learning, facilitated through a series of work placements and group project to foster critical thinking and promote the use of initiative for problem solving and decision making. The course is a full time programme comprising seven modules over twelve months.
The course structure is as follows:
Semester 1:
• Leadership for Sustainable Development: to explore theories and practices of leadership in the context of sustainable development
• Foundations for Sustainable Development:1 to consider core themes underpinning sustainable development
• Foundations for Sustainable Development:2 to consider policies and strategies for sustainable development
Semesters 2 & 3:
• Sustainable Development in NGOs (Placement 1): to provide experiences of sustainable development and leadership in Non Governmental Organisations
• Sustainable Development in Governance (Placement 2): to provide experiences of sustainable development and leadership in Governance
• Sustainable Development in Business (Placement 3): to provide experiences of sustainable development and leadership in Business
• Effective Leadership: Group Project: to engage in a project to promote sustainable development through ‘experiential learning’.
Assessment
A range of assessment methods are used including research projects, group work, presentations, reports and essays, exam and seminar contribution.
CAREERS IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Graduates from this programme have developed successful careers upon completion of the MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development. For example, past students have gone on to gain relevant employment with a range of organisations in the public, private and non-governmental organisations sectors. These include the Sustainable Development Commission NI, Action Renewables, the Environment and Heritage Service, Northern Ireland Environment Link, NIE Supply, George Best Belfast City Airport, the United Nations and the Consumer Council in Northern Ireland.
The success of the MSc Leadership for Sustainable Development programme was recently recognised when the course was highly commended in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Green Gown Awards 2006-7.
Up to date information on course fees can be found at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/finance/TuitionFees/
The University provides information on possible sources of awards which is available at: http://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/PostgraduateCentre/PostgraduateFunding/
http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/StudyatQueens/InternationalStudents/
Applicants who are non-EEA nationals must satisfy the UK Border Agency (UKBA) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes, by providing evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.0, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University.
*Taken within the last 2 yrs.
Please see http://go.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs for more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals.
This programme is run by the Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) – a leading centre for environmental and sustainability-related research and postgraduate teaching.
CES accommodates a wide range of disciplines dedicated to resolving environmental problems, and this Masters programme prepares a new generation of environment and sustainability professionals for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
This programme equips you with the tools essential for analysis of the relationship between environmental issues and human society, in order to make informed decisions. As part of this approach, you will evaluate political, socio-economic, ethical, cultural and regulatory frameworks.
You will acquire a sensitive appreciation of issues surrounding sustainable development and an understanding of the theory and application of sustainable development.
This programme provides a route to graduate membership of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year. It consists of eight taught modules and a dissertation.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
Several high-profile guest lecturers have assisted with the delivery of some of the modules. CES modules make maximum use of guest lecturers, drawing on the practical skills and experience of key experts from government and industry to complement the theoretical components of the modules offered.
For example, Jonathon Porritt, former chairman of the Sustainable Development Commission, gives a guest lecture on the Sustainable Development Applications module, analysing the standing of sustainable development in business and policy making.
The extensive expertise of CES academics and researchers is also drawn upon in modules. Professor Tim Jackson, advisor to the government and international bodies and author of the seminal book, Prosperity without Growth – economics for a finite planet– also lectures on some CES modules.
Full-time students are able to undertake an industrial placement module which enables them to spend six to twelve weeks working for a company or NGO, doing the type of work they will aim to find on graduation.
Examples of organisations at which recent industrial placements have taken place include:
Graduates go on to a diverse range of careers implementing sustainable development and dealing with the real environmental challenges facing humanity.
Recent examples include working as an energy efficiency officer for a local government, an environmental officer in multi-national chemical company, a sustainability advisor for a national television / radio station, an environmental consultant for an engineering consultancy, and a programme officer with a sustainability charity.
Other graduates use the research skills they developed to go on and do PhDs.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
The Master of Science in Sustainable Development contains two different tracks: the Erasmus Mundus joint Master in Sustainable Territorial Development and the ICP Master of Science in Sustainable Development.
The Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Sustainable Territorial Development
STeDe IJM aims to create experts in the area of sustainable territorial development. More concretely it trains professionals to be able to help organizations acting in the territory (enterprises, local communities, civil society organizations) to draft sustainable development policies for economic, social, environmental, international and intercultural management.
The Master concerns the economic competitiveness, social inclusion, environmental protection, international cooperation and intercultural relation challenges of territorial development focusing not only on local communities, but also on enterprises, non-state actors and civil society organizations. It also aims to offer an example of sustainable territory involving all local organizations, which should have human resources available and able to promote sustainable development.
The ICP Master of Science in Sustainable Development
An active research-driven education model with five main pillars
Pillar 1 : Research based teaching courses taught by academic experts leading research in different sustainability domains and parts of the world.
Pillar 2 : Training in research stimulating critical learners, systemic thinking and creativity in the solution of complex socio-ecological problems and triggering real change.
Pillar 3 : A programme informed by and serving the needs of Global South regions facing economic, social and ecological challenges.
Pillar 4 : The active integration of fieldwork in the South, internship, thesis and portfolio development in the professional preparation of the students.
Pillar 5 : The KU Leuven Sustainability Living Lab as the itinerant platform through which the vision and goals of this Master will be tested and implemented in a real world setting. All contents and activities in the Master are connected to the priorities of the Lab, which will be in tune with international institutions agendas and contemporary sustainability debates.
In simple words, this Master programme embraces sustainable development beyond the walls of universities and classrooms to engage with real world settings and localities in their search for solutions to their most pressing problems.
The Master of Science in Sustainable Development is an initial Master's programme and can be followed on a full-time or part-time basis.
In this interuniversity programme, both European and non-European students study together. The EMLM STeDe-students study each semester at a different university. First at the Università degli Studi di Padova (30 ECTS), then at KU Leuven (30 ECTS) and then at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon - Sorbonne (30 ECTS). The fourth semester is dedicated to an internship and a Master's thesis (30 ECTS) written at the university of the student's choice from among the three aforementioned universities and the Universidade Catolica Don Bosco in Brazil.
The students of the ICP Master of Sustainable Development study at the KU Leuven. They can choose between two specialisations: ‘Space and Society’ and ‘Ecology’.
This programme is offered by the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, collaboration with the Department of Biology. The main mission of the Department Earth and Environmental Sciences is to carry out state-of-the-art scientific research with respect to the functioning of geo- and ecosystems at different spatial and temporal scales, including the interaction between humans and the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources. The department aims at providing attractive academic training at an international level in the fields of Bio-engineering, Geology, Geography and Tourism. The department aims at making an important contribution to the scientific understanding of societal issues such as environmental pollution, food production, climate change, nature and landscape management, soil and water management, exploitation of underground resources, rural and urban development, international development collaboration and tourism.
The Department of Biology is committed to excellence in teaching and research and is comprised of four divisions with diverse research activities ranging from molecular and physiological research at the level of cells and organisms to ecological research on populations, communities, and ecosystems. Although many research groups conduct in-depth analyses on specific model organisms, as a whole the department studies an impressive diversity of lifeforms.
Our research is internationally renowned and embedded in well-established worldwide collaborations with other universities, research institutes, and companies. Our primary goal is to obtain insight into patterns and processes at different levels of biological organisation and to understand the basis and evolution of the mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt to their constantly changing environment. This knowledge often leads to applications with important economic or societal benefits. The department attracts many students and hosts approximately 250 staff members.
Job opportunities for graduates may be found in all sectors where sustainable development actions should be implemented, in particular at organizations responsible for the creation of sustainable territories (communities, enterprises, non-state actors and civil society organizations, local governments), the central government and international organizations.
Potential posts include: environmental adviser; sustainable development manager in local communities, public administrations, civil society organizations & local governments; representative within local public institutions, national and international institutions, enterprises, trade unions & professional bodies.
The extensive experience, international collaboration and multidisciplinary insights gained from the Erasmus Mundus Master in Sustainable Territorial Development, will open up new perspectives on the sustainability of territorial use and organization while introducing you to various policy tools and management strategies in divergent territorial contexts.
This course is aimed at built environment professionals and others with a relevant background who wish to gain an in-depth understanding of planning and sustainable development, whether to improve career prospects in their country or enter international practice. Through the course you will examine the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities, regions and communities in a rapidly urbanising world, subject to growing climate change and other environmental, economic and social pressures and risks.
Based in London, you will have access to internationally recognised experience of spatial planning for sustainable development, and explore contemporary theories, public policy thinking and good practice in planning in both the developed and developing worlds. The University of Westminster is the UK's first Habitat Partner University. We work with UN-HABITAT and like-minded institutions to promote the socially and environmentally sustainable development of towns, cities and regions, in accordance with the UN Millennium Development Goals.
This course addresses the growing problems of sustainable development facing cities and communities in a rapidly urbanising world. It explores contemporary theories, public policy thinking and good practice in planning that spans both developed and developing world contexts, and offers you the opportunity to explore one area of specialism in a related field in some depth.
There are two Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)-accredited pathways through the course. The Spatial Planning Pathway has a strong urban design component and an emphasis on the development planning process. The Urban Resilience Pathway provides a sustainable development-focused route with a core emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation planning. Both pathways cover all these aspects to some degree.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course. Other modules with course-related learning outcomes may be taken subject to timetabling constraints and the agreement of the Course and Module Leaders.
Core modules – both pathways
Core module for Spatial Planning Pathway
Core module for Urban Resilience Pathway
Optional modules
The course is fully accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) as a "combined planning programme".
Students on the course are most likely to be working in a relevant built environment or sustainable development-related profession. Overseas students may be receiving a government bursary. Graduates from the course may secure promotion within their existing or a new related area of work, or move onto more responsible positions within 18 months of completing their studies. This may include management posts or the responsibility for project or policy development. It is expected that graduates will enhance their potential to be considered for development positions outside their home country.
Graduates from this course can expect to find employment as planners or urban designers, urban regeneration or environmental management specialists in private consultancy, local and national government, and non-governmental sectors in their own country or internationally, including international development agencies.
This multidisciplinary master’s degree programme provides in-depth knowledge on sustainable development and sustainability leadership. The programme provides students with an understanding of organisation and leadership theory in the context of sustainability. It also provides students with an understanding of research methods for sustainable decision-making. The education lays a solid foundation for those seeking to lead or manage sustainable initiatives in the workplace, community and the world.
The master’s degree programme is grounded in four core premises:
1. Sustainability requires new forms of organising, especially when it comes to project-based organisations involving diverse stakeholders.
2. Organising and leading sustainability requires new and diverse leading and organising skills, understanding and knowledge for managers and leaders of sustainable projects.
3. Organising and leading sustainability requires a new way of thinking sustainability within and between organisations. Current research on social entrepreneurship and social innovation can reveal new methods and strategies with regards to this.
4. Methodological and methodical knowledge and understanding are needed to enable leaders to make sustainable decisions.
Based on these four premises, the programme bridges together the fields of organisation theory, leadership, project management, social innovation and social entrepreneurship so that together new ways of organising and leading sustainability can be created. This will enable students to rethink commonly held perceptions of leadership and organisational development.
In this programme students are taught to reflect upon organisational and leadership challenges linked to organisational development and sustainability. This programme provides students with knowledge and critical understanding of current research in the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development.
This master's programme is also focused on action and doing via diverse projects and even via the thesis work. This is a way to develop students’ professional, conceptual and human skills so that as for example future sustainable leaders and social entrepreneurs, they will drive sustainable changes and have the capacity to make informed decisions about organisational and leadership issues in the management of sustainable organisations and projects.
Finally, embedded in this program is the idea that sustainability can be reached if individuals rethink commonly held perceptions of leadership and organisational development.
TeachingLectures, seminars, and workshop enable interaction in small and large class. Group work is used to generate discussions about sustainability, especially while doing case studies. Study visits and guest lectures connect learning with practice. Individual papers, individual studies and the thesis work enable to focus and gain specific and in-depth knowledge to master the subject at hand.
This programme lays a solid foundation for those seeking to work as key players in project management and organisational development environments, and where the broader issues of societal development are important. The skills acquired will be relevant for managers in local, national and international governmental bodies, the private and non-profit sector and in consultancy work.
The entrepreneurial content of the course is designed to stimulate and encourage students to initiate projects, businesses or organisations with the purpose of working towards sustainable development.
Knowledge and understanding
Skills and competences
Judgement and approach
Master's Degree (60 credits).
Degree of Master of Arts (60 credits) with a Major in Leadership and Organisation.
Interest in development, environment and issues of sustainable development has never been so intense. UN climate change summits, Sustainable Development Goals and the World Social Forum have brought environmental and development issues and problems long on local and national agendas, onto the international scene.
Study Practising Sustainable Development at Royal Holloway, University of London and you’ll address the complex, dynamic network of natural, social, political and economic processes, graduating with a range of transferable research skills to take into your chosen career.
This popular programme continues to evolve and expand in both scope and appeal, attracting student from more than 30 countries and a diverse range of backgrounds. You’ll learn from expert academics with experience in different developing regions and economies in transition, including Latin America, the Caribbean, South, East and South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
You’ll join a department that is consistently highly ranked for the international quality of its research, and contribute to this leading research culture with your own dissertation project.
The Politics, Development and Sustainability (PDS) research group consists of over 20 research-active staff, 35 PhD students and 50 Master’s students on four MSc programmes. We are committed to conducting collaborative research which seeks to understand and contribute to addressing problems of social inequality, environmental destruction and injustice. The breadth of its members’ research places it in an ideal position to contribute to theoretical and policy debates on key challenges facing Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean today.
Study Practising Sustainable Development at Royal Holloway and you’ll learn to tackle issues that are high on the national and international agenda, graduating with excellent employability prospects in the UK and abroad. This programme is also offered at Postgraduate Diploma level for those who do not have the academic background necessary to begin an advanced Masters degree.
Core modules
Optional modules
In addition to these mandatory course units there are a number of optional course units available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course units that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new units may be offered or existing units may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.
Assessment is carried out by a variety of methods, including coursework and a dissertation.
On completion of the course you will have:
This course is delivered in a single stage, equating to either one-year of full-time study or two years part-time, (or up to five years of part-time study by agreement with the Programme Director)
Practising Sustainable Development at Royal Holloway, University of London is a highly-regarded programme that provides graduates with excellent employability prospects in the environmental and developmental sectors. Our alumni have gone on to enjoy rewarding careers as environmental and development workers, activists, teachers and researchers in a variety of international institutions and agencies.
You’ll be equipped with a range of transferable skills, including research design, project development, environmental monitoring and geographic information systems, making you a highly attractive candidate for employers in a variety of sectors. The programme can also be used as part of an ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) research training pathway for PhD study.
This programme examines development planning in the context of environmental concerns in urban areas of the Global South. It challenges mainstream approaches to development, focusing instead upon transformative action for environmental justice. Many of our graduates go on to help shape future sustainable development agendas in local government, international agencies and civil society organisations.
The focus of this degree is the complexity and variety of current environmental problems in urban regions, their causes and impacts, and the possibilities and limitations of environmental planning and management. Students learn how to respond to processes that generate social and environmental change, and how to develop strategies to steer urban environmental planning towards sustainability and environmental justice.
Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits.
The programme consists of three core modules (90 credits), one or two optional modules (30 credits), and a dissertation (60 credits).
A Postgraduate Diploma, three core modules (90 credits), one or two optional modules (30 modules), full-time nine months, is offered.
Core modules
Optional modules
Not all modules may be available.
Dissertation/report
All MSc students submit a 10,000-word dissertation on a topic related to the main themes of the programme. The topic can be chosen to enhance career development or for its inherent interest.
Teaching and learning
The programme comprises reading, essay writing, critical discussion and project work, facilitated through lectures, seminars, workshops, extensive fieldwork and discussions with practitioners covering theoretical and practical tasks and case study analysis. Assessment is through coursework, examinations, and the dissertation.
Further information on modules and degree structure is available on the department website: Environment and Sustainable Development MSc
Most previous graduates of this programme are now engaged in professional activities, ranging from local and national government, consultancy firms and national and international NGOs, to United Nations programmes and international aid agencies all over the world.
Examples of organisations where graduates are employed include:
Recent career destinations for this degree
Employability
Our programme equips students with several interdisciplinary and transferable skills including report writing, data collection and analysis, communication, research and project management skills and teamwork.
Our students network with diverse organisations in the UK and internationally, and in the field they may work directly with local public and private partners. Academic staff are involved in research, consultancy and development practice, influencing global debates on development such as UNFCCC negotiations, the Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Habitat III agenda. Students can meet alumni and other individuals and groups forming part of this network, which is concerned with issues of socially just and sustainable development in the Global South.
Careers data is taken from the ‘Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education’ survey undertaken by HESA looking at the destinations of UK and EU students in the 2013–2015 graduating cohorts six months after graduation.
This programme offers an in-depth theoretical and practical understanding of socio-environmental change, equipping graduates with the skills required to face global challenges in urban regions while being sensitive to local contexts.
For the last 60 years the Development Planning Unit at UCL has championed forms of development planning that promote social justice in the context of rapid urbanisation in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The programme provides opportunities to interact with leading thinkers in development planning and students will join an international network of researchers and practitioners.
The Research Excellence Framework, or REF, is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. The 2014 REF was carried out by the UK's higher education funding bodies, and the results used to allocate research funding from 2015/16.
The following REF score was awarded to the department: Development Planning Unit
81% rated 4* (‘world-leading’) or 3* (‘internationally excellent’)
Learn more about the scope of UCL's research, and browse case studies, on our Research Impact website.
Would you like to develop skills and tools that enable you to contribute to a more sustainable society? If that is the case, this programme is tailor-made for you!
The focus of the programme is sustainable development as a vital challenge to our society, which needs to be seriously addressed by government and public administration. The programme is a cooperation between human geography, political science and sociology and is a one-year Master's programme of 60 credits.
The first semester, you take multidisciplinary courses that focus on sustainable development as a political and professional challenge, and contribute to theoretical and empirical insights into the complexity of different environmental problems and their connection to social and economic dimensions. You will develop an understanding of how environmental problems are framed and how these frames impact on what strategies and solutions are chosen, as well as help explain why some problems are not handled at all.
You will also gain knowledge of what the role as a professional public official and planner can, and ought to, mean when working for a more sustainable society. Sustainable development is further described and analysed from a comparative perspective to give insights into why and how conditions, problem patterns and strategies vary around the world. In the courses, we problematise theoretical perspectives on sustainable development and apply theories in relation to concrete cases of sustainable planning. The methods of instruction are varied and include practical applications and problem-based learning (PBL).
During the second semester, you choose between three courses that are focused on sustainable development with a specialisation in either human geography, political science or sociology. These three courses start with a joint course module in method and analysis, which develops your insights and skills in methods and analyses of particular relevance to sustainable development. You practise your abilities and skills in operationalising by working with different sustainability indicators and by working creatively to develop new, alternative indicators. You will also have the opportunity to develop your knowledge and abilities in traditional field studies. In addition, you will acquire knowledge and skills in forward-looking studies, like scenario techniques and prognosis. The second semester ends with thematic studies and an independent project.
This two-year Master’s programme is aimed at students who want to contribute to the design of the solutions needed to achieve an environmentally and socially accountable society. In this programme, you will learn how to analyse the processes associated with change and will consider the short and long term management of these processes on local and global levels.
This programme is suitable for candidates who want to study and solve societal sustainability issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. The programme is of particular interest to students who are willing to broaden their perspectives through collaboration and interaction with students who bring to the programme knowledge of other natural and social science disciplines.
Following admission to this Master's programme you can choose one of four specialisation tracks based on your interests in the field. As well as working in your chosen track, you will work in research teams with fellow students from the other tracks.
Our programme is closely affiliated with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development,which is part of Utrecht University. The institute conducts research on a wide range of issues related to sustainable development. The cause and effect chains linking economic activities, ecological values and innovation serves as the point of departure for much of the research. Our research and teaching staff are active members of international networks and are at the forefront of their field.
Sustainable Development is the study of scientific solutions and societal interventions for an environmentally accountable society. This two-year Master’s programme educates the scientists of the future. As a graduate of this programme, you will be able to contribute to innovative environmental solutions and help build a sustainable society.
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