Environmental Strategy MSc – 2023 entry

Our MSc is run by our Centre for Environment and Sustainability (CES) – a pioneering hub for inter-disciplinary environmental research and postgraduate teaching. Drawing upon the engineering, physical and social sciences, we’ll develop your technical and analytical skills to understand and resolve environmental problems.

This course will prepare you to join a new generation of environment and sustainability professionals ready to tackle the challenges ahead through the application of inter-disciplinary approaches, strategic thinking and analysis.

This MSc will provide you with both theoretical and practical knowledge for evaluating the technical, social, economic and organisational elements of environmental problems.

You’ll be taught how to apply life-cycle assessment thinking and other analytical methods to understand how resources are used, and how to manage materials and waste.

You’ll also learn about anticipating and responding to future policy developments and market pressures, enabling you to develop impressive problem-solving and decision-making skills.

The skills you’ll gain on our course are much sought after by environmental and consultancy employers. They can also provide you with a direct route to the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment graduate membership, and the Institution of Environmental Sciences student membership.

Please be aware: the course content and modules listed for this course are subject to change for the 2023/24 academic year, whilst we undertake a curriculum design review. Please contact the programme leader if you have any queries about the course.

Both full-time and part-time students must complete five compulsory modules and four elective modules by the end of their MSc. The dissertation forms one of the compulsory modules. You can start this MSc at the beginning of either the first semester in September or the second semester in February.

The academic year begins with an induction week when students are introduced to the University and full-time students choose their elective modules. If you’re a part-time student you can enrol in modules close to the time they wish to take a module.

During Semester 2, you’ll begin to focus on your dissertation, with a series of seminar events held to help you refine your ideas and make a start. You’re free to choose your own dissertation topic. Most choose topics related to issues or ideas encountered in the taught modules, or in a professional context, which relates to environment or sustainability. You’ll be allocated a dissertation supervisor to help guide you through the dissertation process.

Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that modules may be subject to teaching availability, student demand and/or class size caps.

The University operates a credit framework for all taught programmes based on a 15-credit tariff. Modules can be either 15, 30, 45, 75 and 120 credits, and additionally for some masters dissertations, 90 credits.

The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:

Each module on this course is taught on an intensive modular basis. There is pre-reading to do for each module and, on occasion, a pre-module assessment, followed by the intensive taught week where there are several hours of classes run from approximately 9am – 5pm each day, Monday to Friday for one week. Post-module coursework is to be completed over the four-week period after the intensive week. View our Code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF).

Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.