Flexible and Smart Environmental Management and Sustainable Planning

The MSc in Environmental Management at the University of Hertfordshire was first offered in 1995, making one of the longest running MSc programmes in Environmental Management in the UK.

A unique feature of the MSc at the University of Hertfordshire is its teaching timetable, which is designed to enable those who are already working to undertake the MSc as part-time students. Our teaching is done in short intensive blocks of 2-3 day “short courses“, scheduled at the end of the week and on Saturdays. These combine lectures, workshops or fieldtrips to provide both theoretical and practical teaching on current topics in environmental management. Assignments and supporting tutorials (which can be accessed online) follow in the subsequent weeks. This model allows students already in work the opportunity to gain the MSc with minimal disruption at their workplace. Full time students can complete the course in 13-15 months, part time students generally take 2-3 years, depending on how they chose to integrate work and other commitments. For those not wishing to undertake a full MSc, many modules can also be taken individually as CPD.

All students must complete an independent research project, which is supervised by a member of our academic staff. Many enjoy the laboratory and glasshouse facilities at either our science building, or the University of Hertfordshire's field station at Bayfordbury. Part-time students often find a topic which is of interest to their employers.

Over the years we have taught students from a wide range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds in the UK and from overseas. We now have a network of international alumni working around the world, from Australia to South East Asia, from North and South America, from Africa and the Middle East, as well as many alumni in the UK. We now have graduates placed in research institutes, universities, industry and governments globally. Our alumni have gone on to a diverse and successful range of careers, from environmental advisor at the National Trust, head of waste management at a major international company, sustainability advisors at commercial and NGO companies, ecological monitoring, or setting up their own environmental management consultancy companies.

The MSc is accredited by two professional bodies, IEMA and CIWEM, so completion of the full programme enables students to apply for membership of these bodies.

The MSc has 3 pathways, a general MSc in Environmental Management, an MSc in Environmental Manage for Agriculture, and an MSc in Water and Environmental Management. There is also the option to do an MSc in Sustainable Planning and Environmental Management, which is run in partnership with our new RTPI-accredited MSc in Sustainable Planning. The broad aim of the pathways is to provide training in Environmental Management which is both rigorous academically and applied in practice to real world situations. These pathways make the most of the expertise in our research units the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Management, the Agriculture and Environment Research Unit, the University of Hertfordshire Urbanism Unit and the Smart Mobilities Research Unit.

For further information please contact the Programme Leader, Dr. Frances Harris, at [email protected], or visit our webpages at go.herts.ac.uk/PGGEA

Photo credit: University of Hertfordshire