Today’s ecological and social crises, including climate change, biodiversity loss, growing inequality, declining public trust and pressures on health and wellbeing, demand a new understanding of how economies are embedded within society and the rest of nature. The Prosperity, People and Planet MSc offers a new multidisciplinary approach to understanding, designing and governing societies within planetary boundaries. You will explore inclusive prosperity as a vision for how people, communities and ecosystems can thrive together within environmental limits, and apply that vision in careers across sustainable business, policy, social enterprise and education.
Through critical engagement with ideas such as tipping points, trade-offs, ecosystem services, indigenous ecological knowledge, intergenerational and interspecies fairness, and commons governance, you will develop the skills to address challenges such as climate adaptation, environmental degradation, resource pressures and social inequality. You will learn to design and prototype systemic responses to the interconnected climate, governance, economic, and wellbeing crises. You will do this through an integrative approach that combines natural and social sciences with systems thinking, helping you understand how decisions made by governments, businesses, communities and citizens interact to create change.
You will gain practical experience through project-based learning, working with real-world sustainability challenges and external partners to build the applied skills and confidence to take the next step in your career. Optional modules allow you to shape your learning around your interests and ambitions, deepening your understanding of environmental change and ecological systems.
This degree will equip you with the critical, creative and practical skills needed to lead change across sustainability, policy, research and beyond. You will learn to think across disciplines, analyse complex systems, collaborate with diverse stakeholders and design practical responses to sustainability, wellbeing and environmental challenges. You will develop strong capabilities in both qualitative and quantitative methods, communication, strategic thinking and participatory research.
Beyond academic training, the course includes specialist career and skills-enhancement sessions delivered by both internal experts and external consultants. These cover areas such as public policy engagement, web design and blogging, writing for academic and public audiences, audio-visual media skills, presentation and leadership development, mindfulness and study skills, and tailored careers advice.
We offer integrated careers training as part of the core curriculum.
This transdisciplinary MSc equips you with the critical understanding and practical tools to solve the complex interconnected problems facing today’s world. This broad yet practical background supports career paths in a range of sectors, including local and national government, social enterprises, NGOs, education, and businesses. Graduates also pursue careers in sustainability strategy, environmental policy, social innovation, impact investment, community development and systems change initiatives. You might also pursue PhD research or work within academic and research institutions.