MSc in Environmental Management

With this MSc course you can expand your knowledge of environmental management and develop the skills to participate in more effective, informed and creative environmental decision making. It is the highest level of qualification within the environmental management programme and enables you to build on your studies at postgraduate certificate and diploma levels. This MSc offers you the choice of a research route or a professional route. Both routes provide a rigorous approach to solving complex real world problems and develop the essential skills for successfully addressing environmental issues.

From complying with environmental legislation to improving the competitive edge of a business and addressing the global challenges of climate change and energy conservation, environmental management is becoming increasingly important to everyone. Our environmental management postgraduate programme was established to meet the challenges of environmental decision making in the context of a changing world. It is designed to meet the needs of specialists, managers and the public for postgraduate level environmental education.

Everyday concerns of environmental protection, natural resource management and rapidly changing environmental legislation and policy are considered in global and local contexts. The modules teach the skills you need to unpack the issues and participate creatively in the process of improving environmental performance in all sectors of society.

Our environmental management programme offers a postgraduate certificate, a postgraduate diploma and an MSc. Whatever your background these qualifications will widen your knowledge of the environment and develop your skills in making informed decisions about environmental issues, whether at work, in your community or at home.

This MSc offers you the choice of a research route or a professional route to this qualification.

If you need a more professionally-oriented qualification, you can take the 30-credit module The MSc professional project (T847) and complete your qualification with a module from a short list of relevant options.

If you prefer a more research-oriented MSc, you can take the 60-credit Research project (T802). The longer research project allows more in-depth study and further develops your academic research skills.

Both modules provide an excellent platform for further research studies.

Detailed advice about entry and preparation is given in the individual module descriptions. Because of the demands that study of the programme will make on you we recommend that you study no more than 60 credits a year. You can take modules in any order except that the project module (T802 or T847) should normally be taken as the final module of your MSc.

Time limit:

• There is no time limit for completing the qualifications in the environmental management programme but we cannot guarantee that the same selection of modules will continue to be available.
• Modules can count towards this diploma for a maximum of eight years after we have stopped presenting them.

You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 60 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you. Note, in particular, you can only count the credit from one of the following modules towards a single qualification: Research project (T802) or MSc professional project (T847).

Career relevance and employability

Our environmental management programme is for people who are interested in designing, managing and participating in more effective environmental decision-making processes. For example, if you are involved in setting up or responding to environmental or integrated management systems, planning new development projects or are trying to understand or manage sustainability.

Students on our environmental management programme are drawn from industry, commerce, local and national governments, consultancies, non-governmental organisations and communities. They include people already involved in environmental management and those who wish to be – both personally and professionally.

You can select modules that are most relevant to your interests and career aspirations as your study builds from postgraduate certificate through diploma to MSc.

The professional route, where you take the MSc professional project as your final module is particularly suitable if you want to develop your career in industry, commerce, the public sector or the third sector. The research route is more applicable if you intend to develop a career in research or go on to undertake study leading to a PhD or other research degree.

Whichever route you follow, this qualification will equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to work in this expanding sector.

You should normally hold a bachelors degree from a UK university, or the equivalent. If you do not have a degree you need to be adequately prepared for postgraduate study. You might find some of our undergraduate environment modules useful preparation if you have a degree in an unrelated subject.