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Global Sustainable Development, MScHow will we tackle ongoing global challenges? Join our new MSc programme – Global Sustainable Development.

Despite progress in many aspects of global development over recent decades, 690 million people experienced hunger in 2020. Degradation of our natural resources – land, water, forests and biodiversity – continues at alarming rates. These challenges are exacerbated by climate change and violent conflicts in many parts of the world. Tackling these challenges and ensuring a better future will require sustainable development and Transformative Change (TC) – change that is disruptive, systemic, occurs at relatively large scales, and involves a reconfiguration of technology, economy, institutions and society.

Our Global Sustainable Development MSc will provide you with an in-depth understanding of Development Studies theory and practice, including different conceptions of human, societal and environmental changes. Drawing on real-world lessons from various domains (e.g. economic, environmental, social and institutional), sectors (e.g. agri-food, energy, education, and financial services) and contexts (developing and developed countries), you will develop the capacity to critically discuss, analyse and evaluate TC. You will develop hands-on skills in sustainable development design and planning, project management, research, and impact evaluation methods, and familiarity with systems modelling and relevant software. The MSc will enhance your communication, networking and community-engagement skills.

What you should know about this course

Global Sustainable Development, MSc - Main Image

  • The MSc is run by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) – a specialist organisation with over 125 years of history in development-related research, teaching, consultancy, and community engagement.
  • Over 30 members of NRI’s staff have expertise in human geography, political ecology, environmental and development economics, social anthropology, agriculture, and natural resources management.
  • You will receive personalised teaching from an interdisciplinary team of world-leading researchers and development practitioners with experience of working with the World Bank, UN, CGIAR, NGOs and other organisations.
  • NRI’s extensive global networks and ongoing research projects in over 30 countries will provide you with opportunities for practitioner-based learning through placements and fieldwork.
  • You will receive one-to-one care and mentoring and be part of a vibrant and diverse postgraduate student community.
  • Course content is focused not only on what the world’s sustainable development challenges and potential solutions are, but also on ‘how to make changes happen’.

About the course team

At NRI, we maintain professional high standards and place the student experience at the heart of everything we do. Over 80 of our academics publish work in leading international journals, with 22 professors involved in research leadership. Many of our staff have become Fellows, Senior Fellows and Principal Fellows of the UK Higher Education Academy.

The course leader is Dr Md Mofakkarul Islam.

What sort of careers do graduates pursue?

Our interdisciplinary MSc will make you employment-ready for opportunities in government organisations and NGOs worldwide, as managers, policy makers and researchers who can analyse, facilitate, plan, and lead transformative change towards sustainable development.

You can APPLY by visiting https://www.gre.ac.uk/postgraduate-courses/engsci/global-sustainable-development-msc

Make a global difference with our Master’s in Agriculture for Sustainable Development: integrating natural, social and economic sciences, you’ll gain a firm grounding in research methods of sustainable agricultural systems, using case studies of real projects.

With our Master’s in Food Innovation, learn to design the next big food trend with food industry partners. Enhance your skills, knowledge, tools, creativity and sustainability within the food chain and develop practical solutions and value-added products and processes.

Learn from home with our part-time Food Safety and Quality Management e-learning programme, combining the best of NRI’s experience of food value chains with the flexibility of online learning. Enhance your skills and industry knowledge as you study alongside your professional career in the food sector.

On our Applied Food Safety and Quality Management programme, you’ll learn from food sector experts, have membership to IFST, undertake HACCP training and enhance your chances of getting a great job after graduation, with 100% employment rate for alumni.

With our Master’s in Global Environmental Change, you’ll gain a solid foundation in environmental science, data collection and analysis, and land/water-use interactions. You’ll develop key skills and knowledge needed to address some of the world’s major challenges.

With our Master’s in Global Sustainable Development, we will provide you with an in-depth understanding of Development Studies theory and practice, including different conceptions of human, societal and environmental changes. You will also develop hands-on skills in sustainable development design and planning, project management, research, and impact evaluation methods.

Postgraduate Taught Programmes Introductions