Sustainable Food and Natural Resources MSc


Online Centre for Alternative Technology    Graduate School of the Environment

Full time & Part time September MSc, PGDip, PGCert 18 months full time/ 3 years part time
Agriculture (1) Environmental Sciences (13) Food Sciences (15)

FindAMasters summary

Are you passionate about sustainability and the environment? Our MSc Sustainable Food and Natural Resources programme is designed to deepen your understanding of the impact of environmental change on global and local food systems, as well as the natural world. Explore innovative solutions to urgent issues, such as climate change and soil health, through a range of modules. With flexible study options, including immersive or distance learning, you can fit your studies around your existing commitments. Join us at the Centre for Alternative Technology, a world-leading eco centre with over 40 years of sustainability experience. Apply today and be part of the solution.

About the course

Develop your knowledge and understanding of the impacts of environmental change on global and local food systems and the natural world on our MSc Sustainable Food and Natural Resources.

Explore solutions that could help address some of the urgent and crucial issues that we face, looking at different approaches and competing paradigms.

Key areas of study

On the course you will explore a variety of topics, focusing on climate mitigation and adaptation in food and natural resources, soil health, natural climate solutions and food and land management systems.

Some of the topics you will study will include:

Read more about this course

Entry Requirements

We ask for a Bachelor’s degree or knowledge and skills equivalent to degree standard.

IELTS 6.5 (or equivalent) is required for applicants whose first language is not English.


Fees

The cost of studying one of our full MSc courses from September 2024 is £9,350 for Home Students or £12,000 for Overseas students.

 Course Content

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Student Profile

Ffion Thomas

Ffion graduated in 2019 as one of the first students on our MSc in Sustainable Food and Natural Resources. Before studying at CAT Ffion had previously worked in German banks and then as Head of Risk Management and Compliance at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust. Looking for a change in her career and life Ffion was able to transfer the research, practical and analytical skills she’d gained through her career, to her studies at CAT. During her studies, Ffion was part of the team looking at the changes to pesticide regulations in the lead up to Brexit. The important work Ffion and the team were doing reached the national press and Ffion was quoted in the Guardian. Her analysis highlighted that the changes could weaken the rigour of the process by which pesticides are approved and monitored in the UK.

Following on from this and the work Ffion undertook in her dissertation, she is now working towards her PhD focusing on agroecological approaches to managing ash dieback at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University.

“Studying at CAT was life-changing, and has enabled me to take on a new career in an area I love, but which I never thought would be feasible, given I didn’t have a scientific background. “

Scholarships

Sir John has had an illustrious career as one of the world’s most eminent climate scientists, including being co-chair of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Scientific Assessment Working Group and a former Chief Executive of the Met Office.

A long term supporter of the work of the Centre for Alternative Technology, Sir John says:

‘I have spent a lifetime studying the atmosphere and the climate and latterly have been concerned with the reality of human induced climate change. I now want to help the next generation tackle this serious problem, possibly the biggest the world faces.’

Value of Scholarship(s)

4500

Eligibility

Thanks to a generous donation from Sir John Houghton, CAT is able to offer an annual bursary of £4,500 to a promising postgraduate student who demonstrates that they have an excellent academic record and a passion for tackling climate change.

Application Procedure

Applications open in the new year and close in the Spring. Grant applications must be made on the bursary application form on CAT's website.


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Set up in 2020 in memory of Rose Jessica-Maia, this bursary is offered to new CAT students, starting on one of our courses validated by Liverpool John Moores University, who have experienced or are experiencing mental health difficulties. The bursary was launched on the 12 December 2020 what would have been Rose’s 21st birthday.

Eligibility

This bursary is set up in memory of Rose Jessica-Maia and is offered to new students starting on one of courses validated by Liverpool John Moores University, who have experienced or are experiencing mental health difficulties. The bursary will cover around half an MSc students tuition fees.

Application Procedure

Applications open in the new year and close in the Spring. Grant applications must be made on the bursary application form on CAT's website.


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The generous donation from the trust, whose main aims and activities focus on the advancement of education in science in Wales, will partly fund a student who would otherwise be unable to study on a postgraduate course because of their financial situation and is aimed at those who wish to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in a practical way to combat the climate and biodiversity crisis in Wales.

Eligibility

Thanks to a generous donation from The Ethel and Gwynne Morgan Trust, we are able to offer a bursary worth £4,500 to new students beginning on one of CAT's postgraduate courses in September 2023. This bursary is aimed at those who wish to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in a practical way to combat the climate and biodiversity crisis in Wales.

Application Procedure

Applications open in the new year and close in the Spring. Grant applications must be made on the bursary application form on CAT's website.


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CAT’s Graduate School of the Environment is pleased to be offering 10 Widening Participation Bursaries to support Home students accepted onto our 2024 entry Masters courses with their tuition costs. The bursaries, which are worth £1,000 each, are open to those who may otherwise be unable to afford to study at CAT on a postgraduate course, and who meet our widening participation criteria.

Widening access is firmly embedded within CAT’s postgraduate recruitment and the culture of the Graduate School and CAT. We value the diversity of our student population and the voices and perspectives this brings to our courses. The bursaries will support students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented within higher education and environmental groups and organisations.

To be eligible, applicants must:
- Hold an offer to study on a taught Masters programme (180 credits) at CAT, starting in September 2024.
- Support CAT’s mission and be committed to enabling, creating and implementing environmental change at the scale and urgency needed, and be willing to apply what they learn in a practical, grounded way to help create solutions to climate change.
- Provide evidence that their circumstances are such that they may find it difficult to take up a place at CAT for financial or other reasons.
- Not previously have undertaken postgraduate study.
- Provide evidence of excellent academic achievement in their undergraduate studies (normally 2:2 degree classification or above).
- Be considered as a Home student for fee purposes.
- Undertake at least 30 credits of the programme on-site at CAT.
- Applicants must also meet at least one area of our widening participation criteria:
- Live in an area that is economically disadvantaged with high levels of deprivation (on the Index of Multiple Deprivation) or where few people progress into higher education.
- Identify as being a person from an ethnic minority background.
- Have previously spent time in care or be a carer (provide unpaid care).
- Be the first generation in their family to attend university.
- Have a seen or unseen disability status or additional learning needs.

Value of Scholarship(s)

£1000

Eligibility

Support CAT’s mission and be committed to enabling, creating and implementing environmental change at the scale and urgency needed, and be willing to apply what they learn in a practical, grounded way to help create solutions to climate change.
Not previously have undertaken postgraduate study.
Provide evidence of excellent academic achievement in their undergraduate studies
Undertake at least 30 credits of the programme on-site at CAT and be considered as a Home student
Meet at least one area of our widening participation criteria (see in full details of bursary)

Application Procedure

Applications for the bursary are now open to applicants starting their studies at CAT in September 2024. Bursary applications can be made via the CAT website http://www.cat.org.uk/funding . Other bursaries and funding opportunities are also available to new students and are listed on our Fees and Funding page.


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