This course will help students analyse the politics and practices of Sustainable Development as it cuts across a wide range of social science disciplines, incorporating perspectives from economics, political science, international relations, anthropology, economics, human geography and more.
The focus is on real-world issues such as transforming energy production and consumption, climate-related disasters, agricultural intensification, waste and pollution. The course examines how social power and inequality play a part in technological development and environmental change. And it explores the conditions under which sustainability transformations are achieved, to tackle social inequalities and environmental degradation.
With employability firmly in mind, students will take part in both independent and group work, studying sustainable development policies and strategies for international agencies, NGOs, public and private organisations.
Globalisation and the Environment: Capitalism, Ecology and Power
Perspectives, Methods and Skills
Innovation for Sustainability
Market-based Solutions for Sustainable Development: Pitfalls and possibilities
Decolonising knowledge for Sustainable Development
Students have the opportunity to tailor their learning by choosing between one of two modules below.
Critical Issues in Sustainability: Environment, Agriculture, Health
Sustainability in Business Operations and Supply Chains
Assessments
These will take place throughout each module and must be completed within the module teaching period for students to progress through the course and move on to the next module.
2.2 undergraduate honours degree or above from any UK university or international equivalent
Students who do not meet the entry requirements but demonstrate relevant professional experience will also be considered for this course.
These typical entry requirements apply to the current academic year of entry and may be subject to change. Please check back on the website for further details.
Applicants whose first language is not English (and whose first degree was not taught in English) are required to produce evidence of English language proficiency such as an IELTS (Academic) Standard level (6.5 overall, including at least 6.0 in each component).
Cost per module: £1,020 Total course fees: £12,240
Fees above apply for the 2022/23 academic year of entry (ending August 31st 2022)
Funding
Flexible options allow students or their employers to make payment as easy as possible. These options include paying unit by unit, or paying the full fees upfront or via a sponsor.
20% Alumni discount
If you have previously graduated from an undergraduate, postgraduate or PhD course with the University of Sussex you will be eligible† for a 20% discount on this online course.
†T&Cs apply.
If your organisation is committed to building a future that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive, this course will provide your people with the knowledge and the incentive to bring about lasting change.
The course will give students the skills and knowledge they need to meet a wide range of objectives, from a company’s corporate social responsibility targets, to the UN’s 17 ambitious global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Meeting many of these will require extensive transformations in the way society works across the world. Outcomes may need to bridge different socio-economic sectors, competing markets and disparate policy silos.
This Sustainable Development MSc will empower entrepreneurs and scholars with the passion to bring about change.
The relevant and up-to-date curriculum provides students with skills they can take directly into the workplace to start driving that change. Whether your business is energy, food production, fashion, agriculture, construction, transport or most any other sector, this is an opportunity to develop expertise in sustainable solutions, actions and policies essential to success.
Sussex lecturers from three of its most respected research units will lead the debate to critically and constructively analyse the work of governments, businesses and society at large in sustainable development.
With the opportunity to network online with others from all over the world, students will explore relevant, current issues and be able to provide new insights at work, even while they study.
To enrol in the course, applicants will need the following:
A 2.2 undergraduate honours degree or above from any UK university or an international equivalent
Students who do not meet the entry requirements but demonstrate relevant professional experience will also be considered for this course.
These typical entry requirements apply to the 2020/2021 academic year of entry (1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021) and may be subject to change for the 2021/2022 academic year (1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022). Please check back on the website for further details.
English language requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English (and whose first degree was not taught in English) are required to produce evidence of English language proficiency such as an IELTS (Academic) Standard level (6.5 overall, including at least 6.0 in each component).
Modules
Graduates of the programme will emerge with skills that cover an extensive range of disciplines. The course comprises of 12 modules:
Sustainable Development: Politics and Policies
Science, Technology and Innovation
Policy Analysis
Understanding the Policy-Making Process
Key Perspectives in International Development
Democratising Science and Technology
Globalisation and the Environment: Capitalism, Ecology and Power
Perspectives, Methods and Skills
Innovation for Sustainability
Critical Issues in Sustainability: Environment, Agriculture, Health
Market-based Solutions for Sustainable Development: Pitfalls and Possibilities
Decolonising knowledge for Sustainable Development
Each module lasts for seven weeks with the final module assessment deadline usually on the Monday of Week 8.
Assessments must be completed within the module teaching period for students to progress through the course and move on to the next module.
Students are free to plan the recommended 20 hours of study a week around existing commitments and earn as they learn. They can complete the 12 modules in two years to gain their MSc, or take longer if they need to.
Courses are designed using a carousel format, with modules starting every two months. If necessary, students can step off the course, take a break, and then re-join when their external commitments permit.
Why choose this course?
Sussex University has been ranked No.1 in the World for Development Studies five years running*. A research-intensive university, it attracts leading academics and students from over 100 countries worldwide.
The online Sustainable Development MSc is taught by leading academics from three of the University of Sussex’s most prestigious research units: the School of Global Studies, the Institute of Development Studies and the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), rated in the World’s top three for its focus on innovation by the 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report.
Students have the flexibility of 100% part-time, online learning, with no need to travel to the campus. The university’s distance learning platform has been specifically designed for them. Known as the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), it allows participants to study from wherever they are in the world.
They can view real time lectures and seminars, or watch them back on-demand at a time and place that suits them. All supporting materials are stored in the VLE: research papers, articles, podcasts, suggested readings and viewings, as well as additional learning tools and resources to help them throughout their studies
Students are encouraged to collaborate, bringing their own experiences and knowledge together so they can share and enhance each other’s learning. As graduates, they will join a global network of alumni and academics who will support them throughout their career as fellow professionals and like-minded colleagues.
*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Course fees will remain fixed for 24 months from your initial course start date. Thereafter, the course fee will rise at a rate of 2.5% per calendar year (subject to rounding for administration purposes).
Funding
Please discuss the various funding options with your Pearson Regional Development Manager.
Meet Your Faculty
Dr Katerina Psarikidou
Lecturer in Sustainable Development – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Dr Psarikidou is a social scientist interested in the politics of sustainable development, particularly in relation to the politics of science, research and innovation. Her research revolves around the study of the sustainability and innovation potential of alternative agro-food networks and low-carbon mobility practices, particularly in the wider political economic landscape of power and inequalities.
Katerina is passionate about developing research alongside non-academic organisations, especially from the third sector. Her research has been published in journals and books of international impact. She is also co-mobiliser for SPRU’s Science, Politics and Decision-Making research cluster, a researcher and investigator for a series of EC, EPSRC and HEFCE funded interdisciplinary and cooperative research programmes, and a visiting research fellow at the Austrian Institute of Advanced Studies and the University of Crete.
Katerina holds a PhD in Sociology from Lancaster University, an MA in Bioethics from the University of Crete, and a BA in History.
Lucila Newell
Lecturer and Associate Tutor in International Relations, School Tutor – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) & School of Global Studies
Lucila is a Lecturer in Education and Scholarship, specialising in Online Distance Learning. Based in the Department of Geography and International Development in the School of Global Studies, her focus is on global environmental politics and its bearing on environmental sustainability.
With an interdisciplinary academic background, her first degree was in Sociology, her MSc and PhD in Human Geography. This led to the study of international relations and international development. Her PhD research looked at environmental issues in cities, particularly on the politics of waste and recycling in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Motherhood has steered her interests towards feminist issues, especially breastfeeding, and towards a focus on connecting with nature and environmental change. She is curious about the ways in which we can generate personal and societal change towards more sustainable futures.
Professor Peter Newell
Professor of International Relations
Peter Newell is a specialist in the politics and political economy of environment and development. For more than 25 years he has conducted research, consultancy and advisory work on issues of climate change and energy, agricultural biotechnology, corporate accountability and trade policy, working in a number of countries including Argentina, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa.
In recent years his research has focussed on the political economy of carbon markets and low carbon energy transitions. Besides working for academic institutions including the universities of Sussex, Oxford, Warwick and East Anglia, he has undertaken commissioned research and policy work for the governments of the UK, Sweden and Finland, and for international organisations such as UNDP, GEF and the Inter-American Development Bank.
A prolific author, Peter has also worked for NGOs such as Friends of the Earth and Climate Network Europe and the International Council on Human Rights Policy. He sits on the board of directors of Greenpeace UK, is a board member of the Brussels-based NGO Carbon Market Watch and a member of the advisory board of the Greenhouse think-tank.
Professor Steve Sorrell
Professor of Energy Policy – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Steve is an energy and climate policy specialist with 25 years’ experience in academic and consultancy research. He is a Co-Director of the Digital Society theme of the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions, a member of the Sussex Energy Group (SEG) and Honorary Senior Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College.
Steve worked as an electrical engineer before joining SPRU in 1991. Since then he has undertaken applied, problem-oriented research on energy and climate policy, with particular focus on energy efficiency, emissions trading and resource depletion. He is listed in the 2018 and 2019 Highly Cited Researchers List compiled by Clarivate Analytics.
Steve has consulted for a variety of clients including international organisations (European Commission, UNIDO, WEC), UK government departments (BEIS, DEFRA, DfID), UK government agencies (Environment Agency), private sector organisations (EDF) and NGOs.
Dr Saurabh Arora
Course Director & Senior Lecturer in Technology and Innovation for Development – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Prior to joining SPRU in January 2014, Dr Arora worked as an Assistant Professor at Eindhoven’s University of Technology in The Netherlands. He completed his PhD in 2009 from Maastricht University, with a thesis focussed on the networked politics of knowledge sharing and agricultural innovation in and around a south Indian village. Prior to that, he trained as an Engineer at the University of Minnesota (USA) and the National Institute of Technology, Surat (India).
Dr Divya Sharma
Course Director & Lecturer in Sustainable Development – Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU)
Dr Sharma’s research draws on many disciplines: political ecology, critical development studies, historical sociology, agrarian studies, as well as science and technology studies. Using qualitative methodologies, she has looked at postcolonial rural transformations, mapped the changing landscapes of work, studied agro-ecology and the politics of sustainability.
Before coming to SPRU, Divya gained a PhD in Development Sociology from Cornell University. Using ethnographic methods, her dissertation project examined agricultural intensification through high yielding varieties of seeds and agro-chemicals in the Indian state of Punjab since the 1960s, through the lens of changing labour practices and the shift towards ecologically sustainable farming.
She has conducted extensive fieldwork research in rural and urban India. Prior to graduate school, she was engaged in collaborative research at Delhi’s Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), centred on women’s work in the informal economy.
Faculty & Testimonials
“Today’s challenges – from unemployment and increasing inequality to climate change – make it essential to reignite and redirect economic growth, and to innovate for sustainable, inclusive development.”
Professor Maria Savona
Questions, prospectus requests or just more information.
Fill in the contact form and a Pearson Regional Development Manager will be in touch to answer your questions.
