MSc Sustainability And Consultancy

Prepare yourself for a career in the increasingly relevant field of sustainability consultancy through our hands-on and industry-led Sustainability and Consultancy MSc.

This course aligns closely with the challenges of sustainability and the skills that businesses and organisations need to tackle those challenges, with a strong emphasis on project skills. You will be taught the principles of the field, and have the opportunity to choose sustainability topics which align to your specific interest, as you build up to a focused professional consultancy project in which you will carry out discrete analysis with one of our industry partners.

Specialist modules are delivered by academic staff, practising consultants and other practitioners, giving you exposure to real-life, international case studies with a good understanding of the contemporary project and sustainability management techniques and solutions you will need to become a leader in the field.

Course highlights

• This is an accredited Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) course and is widely recognised by employers as a real benefit for anyone in a role with environmental responsibility.

• A major component of this Masters is that you will manage a consultancy project, which is usually in the form of an engagement with a professional organisation. This experience plays a key role in your personal and professional development.

• Sustainability is an integrated issue across our teaching, rather than separating the environmental, economic and social elements.

• You will benefit from the School of Earth and Environment’s active research environment as well as our excellent links with industry, ensuring that course content is both research-led and relevant to the industry.

Industry links

We have successful and productive links with many partners with different perspectives on sustainability and consultancy. During your studies, you will come into contact with our network of industrial partners through teaching, personal development workshops and whilst undertaking your final consultancy project.

External partners include consultancy providers such as Aecom, Arup, Buro Happold, JBA Consulting, Jacobs, ERM, Mott MacDonald and WSP in the multidisciplinary and environmental consulting fields, as well as other consultancy providers with management and wider sustainability portfolios such as Sodexo, retail bank small business services and Business in the Community.

We also work closely, on both research projects and teaching, with consultancy clients from the private sector (e.g. Yorkshire Water, Burberry), non-profits (Opera North, UnLtd) and public sector (e.g. Leeds City Council, Environment Agency, NHS).

Our industrial partners consistently report that the combination of academic rigour, professional skills development and project management experience inherent in this degree, ensures that you will have the combination of skills and knowledge to be effective straight away.

As a result, you will be seen as ‘work ready’, with fresh ideas and innovative ways of working in your chosen career area.

The strong relationship with businesses and other influential organisations in the field of sustainability means that, through your consultancy project, you will be able to contribute to transforming business to prepare for a more sustainable future.

Programme team

The Programme Leader, Paul Abbott, is an experienced sustainability consultant who has spent over 30 years delivering high quality projects and services to large companies, SMEs, government departments, professional institutes, awarding and validating bodies and institutes of further and higher education.

Leading in the field for over 10 years, academics from the Sustainability Research Institute – one of the largest academic groups of sustainability experts in the world – will form part of the wider programme team.

Online taster courses

Our Environmental Challenges collection is a five-part series of free online courses, delivered via FutureLearn. Ideal for current undergraduate students or mid-career professionals considering a Masters degree, this series explores how environmental management policies are developed and the challenges surrounding their formulation.

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Accreditation

This course is accredited by IEMA, the professional body for everyone working in environment and sustainability. This course entitles you to student membership for the duration of the course and on successful completion you qualify for GradIEMA.

Graduate membership is a launchpad for future leaders within environment and sustainability and offers a range of benefits to support you throughout your career. You can then “Fast track” to Practitioner Membership.