MSc Environmental Governance tackles some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time, examining how governance and policy shape the way we produce, share, and consume the world’s resources.
The course is unique in its breadth and scope, drawing on the wide range of expertise in the Society and Environment Research Group (SERG), to examine the multiple, interacting facets of environmental governance, including energy, climate and decarbonisation; water, sanitation and flooding; nature, biodiversity and conservation; transport, housing and planning; and conservation, resilience, and sustainability.
You will consider the whole spectrum of approaches to regulating human use of the natural world, from the production, distribution, to consumption of resources, applying key analytical approaches, from political ecology to sustainability transition.
This course will equip you with the skills to critically apply cutting-edge sustainability and environmental theories across different scales and global contexts. With an interdisciplinary approach, you'll learn to understand and challenge the systems that influence our environment today.
You’ll benefit from working closely with world-leading researchers and internationally recognised experts in environmental governance, political ecology, cultural environmental geography, science and technology studies (STS), Marxist political economy, and urban sustainability. Visit the SERG Research Group page to find out more.
What unites all the researchers in SERG is a collective emphasis on justice and equality. While policy design and technological innovation are critical for addressing the climate and nature crises, wider, deeper, social, political, and economic change will also be necessary.
Alongside academic learning, you’ll engage with real-world practitioners and collaborate with external organisations on live policy challenges.
Whether you're looking to build a career in environmental regulation, policy and management, pursue further academic research, or deepen your professional expertise, this course provides a strong foundation for making a meaningful impact.
And where better to study Geography than Manchester? Once the world’s first industrial city, today it’s a thriving 21st-century hub and pioneer in climate and nature policy innovation, surrounded by three National Parks.
The city, and its surroundings, provide a rich and diverse setting for hands-on fieldwork throughout your course, for the Metabolic Manchester fieldcourse and dissertation projects.
We require a UK Honours degree with a First or Upper Second (2.1) classification or the overseas equivalent.
When assessing your academic record we take into account the grades you have achieved and the standing of the institution where you studied your qualification.