Sustainability and Environmental Management MSc

Modules

• Global Sustainability Issues and Practice (15 credits) - Compulsory

  This module sets the ethos of the programme orienting students towards the sustainability issues across the three core domains of sustainability – the environmental domain, social domain and economic domain. It presents the theory, drivers, experience and challenges across various spheres of experience and practice including the natural environment, communities and business. It also presents the approaches used to influence these contexts.

• Applied Sustainability Case Study (15 credits) - Compulsory

  This module seeks to explore the current nature and history of the environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges in a case study environment subject to sustainability challenges. The field case study involves field exposure to a practical case study environment, which has challenged stakeholders and the practice of sustainability. Through meeting local stakeholders, experts and relevant academics relating to the case study, and with the supply of published literature and material in relation to the field area, students will experience and learn that there are various tensions and conflicts relating to sustainability which represent a balancing act.  This allows students to develop a deeper understanding of contemporary challenges of Sustainability and Environmental Management than is possible otherwise. The opportunity to understand the area in the context of policy and legislation brings a practical perspective and critical focus to learning from other modules.

  The case study is experienced through the field trip in late March with a week long visit to various locations in Almeria in Spain, with context and theoretical applications being explored in some introductory lectures. There is an alternative largely self-led UK-based case study for students in situations where travelling abroad is not possible due to personal issues.

• Environmental Law and Governance (15 credits) - Compulsory

  This module grounds student learning in the policy, legal and governance relating to sustainability from local to international level. It provides key principles of policy and law, and their application to key domains of concern.

• Environmental Assessment and Management (15 credits) - Compulsory

  This module equips students with the practical tools and approaches to successful environmental assessment and management in organisations through a focus on the environmental management systems approach and application to varying industry sectors.

• Research Methods (30 credits) - Compulsory

  This module prepares students with the philosophical and practical methodological approaches to research through lectures and workshops which prepare the student not only with knowledge but practical experience of working with the tools and computer packages including Minitab and NVivo.

• Dissertation Project (60 credits) - Compulsory

  This module provides for independent research completion by the student to completion of MSc level dissertation supported by a dedicated supervisor.

• Professional Experience Placement (30 credits) - Optional

  This module provides students with the preparatory skills for undertaking a work experience placement in a relevant field. Supported by the Middlesex University Employability Office, students are given the opportunity to undertake a work placement.

• Factors affecting risk and strategic risk intervention (15 credits) - Optional

  This module aims to provide you with an overview of the theory and application of risk management as it is applied at a strategic level from a multi-disciplinary, science-led perspective and explore frameworks that can be used to relate the functions of risk management and the actors that perform them in order to enable you to better understand the process of decision making and the factors which influence it.

• Flood Risk Management (15 credits) - Optional

  Flooding is widely recognised globally as one of the most common natural catastrophes and with climate change the frequency and severity of flood disasters is expected to increase. The aim of this module is to introduce how and why floods occur and for you to investigate and evaluate the core principles and concepts of flood risk management. The module will introduce the complex issue of flood risk and examines how it is understood in different contexts by different cultures and communities; the impacts (both positive and negative) will be considered. You will be introduced to practical ways of managing flood risk and case studies will be used to demonstrate differing management approaches and options applied in different settings. Also, the module will introduce you to the three key dimensions of flood risk management relating to the physical basis of flood generation and flood frequency in the context of changing climatic and societal ‘futures’; the social, environmental and economic impacts of flooding; and solutions, challenges and approaches: delivering flood risk management to societies in a range of socio-economic and physical contexts.