Environment, Politics and Society MSc

The Environment, Politics and Society MSc programme explores the way scientific, political and cultural practices shape our understanding of the relationship between society and the environment. It is an academic rather than vocational programme with most students pursuing further education or careers in international organisations, the public sector, NGOs or charities. The programme explores the social, economic, cultural and political processes through which expert and lay knowledges of environmental and political changes is acquired, communicated and incorporated in decision-making. It equips students with a range of social science methods and personal transferable skills which are essential for social and environmental politics, practices and policy.

The first cohort of students on the Environment, Politics and Society MSc graduate in 2017. The programme is fundamentally academic in character rather than vocational and we anticipate careers destinations to be broadly similar to the Environment, Science and Society programme which preceded it. Graduates of Environment, Science and Society have gone on to work for governments, environmental non-governmental organisations and consultancies, multi-lateral bodies, the media and think tanks, often in policy, research or communication roles. The MSc also provides an excellent foundation for PhD research.

The programme's combination of core social science methodological training, detailed exploration of contemporary environmental issues and critical engagement with environmental science, policies and politics, provides a distinctive skill set for those wanting careers in the environmental sector that do not simply replicate current governance approaches. This holistic experience is different from more technical, managerial environmental programmes and facilitates access to careers in international organisations (UNDP, World Bank), government (UK DECC, UK Home Office, Lewisham Council), NGOs (WWF, Greenpeace), education (the Open University, UCL, and the University of Hong Kong) and a wide varity of charitable organisations.