MSc Global Development (Environment and Climate Change) / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

Course description

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From International to Global Development - Global Development Institute

MSc Global Development with Environment and Climate Change links environmental understanding grounded in the physical sciences with study of the social and economic bases of global sustainability with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. 

Over the past two decades, environmental challenges have risen to the top of the global agenda. 

As a result, there is a pressing need for policymakers, planners and managers to understand the environmental dimensions of development, and to find socially just solutions to climate change and environmental problems.

The course is therefore perfect if you're looking to benefit from research-led teaching - by world-class academics - that examines both mainstream sustainability and radical alternatives for sustainable global development.

 

Aims

This course will:
  • Provide you with interdisciplinary training to equip you with an understanding of the environmental and climate change dimensions of development trends and interventions. 
  • Provide you with a thorough conceptual framework and the skills necessary to analyse effectively the relationships between environmental issues, climate change and development processes, and make judgments about policies and their implementation. 
  • Provide critical insights into the key strategies, policies and practices currently employed to promote sustainable development and address global environmental change, especially in low- and middle-income countries.   
  • Develop  professionally-oriented skills to formulate, investigate and implement different approaches to promote sustainable development and address global environmental, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
  • Provide a wide range of options for advanced, people-centred training in areas of specialist expertise relevant to environment, climate change, and development. 
  • Develop advanced competencies in transferable areas, including developing reasoned arguments, gathering, organising and using evidence and information from a wide variety of sources, undertaking both team-based and independent work to deadlines, and both written and verbal forms of communication. 
  • Assist you in developing your specialist area of expertise within the field of environment, climate change, and development in the context of low- and middle-income countries, and applying your understanding and skills through supervised individual research culminating in a dissertation.

Special features

  • We're Europe's largest dedicated development research and teaching institute and have been at the  forefront of development studies for over 60 years .  
  • We're ranked second in the UK and seventh in the world for development studies (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022). 
  • We’ve been ranked first for research environment and second overall in the recent Research Excellence Framework (2021).
  • We are proud to tackle global inequalities and rank first in the UK for our impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2021 ( THE Impact Rankings 2021 ). Most of the course units - core and optional - are closely associated with SDGs.  
  • We bring cutting-edge insights from our research into all our postgraduate teaching. Our courses bring different development perspectives and voices to Manchester, from  activists from the Global South  to the leaders of multinational companies.  
  • We are home to the internationally recognised  African Cities Research ConsortiumEffective States and Inclusive Development  and  FutureDAMS  research centres. 
  • Students are part of our vibrant research community, including our  public lecture series  which brings world experts, former heads of state, and leading development thinkers, to discuss current issues in development.  

Teaching and learning

This course has normally included a field trip. Past locations include Uganda, Ghana, Sri Lanka and India. 

Please note that field trips may be scheduled at any point during the course, including during University vacations.

You are expected to be available to attend. 

Part-time students 

Part-time students complete the course over 24 months. 

There are no evening or weekend course units available; you should, therefore, discuss course requirements with the Programme Director and seek approval from your employer. 

Timetabling information is usually available from late August.

You can discuss course unit choices during induction week with the Programme Director. 

Important notice 

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) recognises the value of fieldwork. However, the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our priority. The School will assess on a regular basis the viability of any travel and fieldwork and communicate any significant changes to our students at the earliest possible opportunity. 

The ability of fieldwork and travel to proceed, and whether any changes to proposed fieldwork and travel might be necessary, will remain subject to factors such as the: 

  • rules and guidance on travel and activities implemented and published by the UK and overseas governments; 
  • outcome of any risk assessments conducted by the University; 
  • educational value and student experience of the fieldwork, if significant changes to the proposed fieldwork would be necessary; 
  • availability of appropriate insurance cover; 
  • availability of appropriate travel and accommodation and any significant changes to their financial costs.

All fieldwork and travel will be subject to a rigorous risk assessment process and the implementation of any protective measures identified by the risk assessment to ensure the health and safety of all our students and staff. 

In some circumstances, it may become necessary to make changes to fieldwork or programme related travel. The University will notify you of those changes at the earliest opportunity. If any fieldwork does not go ahead as planned, then the School's focus will be on seeking to offer a suitable alternative and ensure that the Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) of the programme are met.

Please note that Countries may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice. The School cannot guarantee that where visas are required for fieldwork, they will be granted but we will take steps so that if a visa is refused, affected students are not academically disadvantaged.

Coursework and assessment

The taught elements of the course, carrying 120 credits overall, is continuously assessed by a variety of methods (eg project-based reports, essays), involving largely individual submissions, but also elements of group work. 

You must also complete a 12,000-15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice approved by the Programme Directors. 

You are encouraged to base your dissertation on topics of direct professional concern.

Course unit list

The course unit details given below are subject to change, and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.

TitleCodeCredit ratingMandatory/optional
Development Fundamentals MGDI60411 15 Mandatory
Development Fieldwork MGDI60502 15 Mandatory
Climate, Environment and Development MGDI60552 15 Mandatory
Global Development Challenges MGDI60601 15 Mandatory
Key Issues in Environment and Development MGDI60801 15 Mandatory
Development Research MGDI70982 15 Mandatory
Economics of Environmental Policy ECON60782 15 Optional
Climate Change Knowledge Politics GEOG70492 15 Optional
Issues in Environmental Policy GEOG70912 15 Optional
Climate Emergency, Technology and Society GEOG70931 15 Optional
Global Political Economy MGDI60072 15 Optional
Poverty and Development MGDI60141 15 Optional
Gender Inequality: Theory and Evidence MGDI60202 15 Optional
Political Analysis of Development Policy MGDI60522 15 Optional
Critical Issues in Urban Inequality MGDI60531 15 Optional
Citizen-Led Development MGDI60561 15 Optional
Migration, Mobility and Displacement in the Contemporary World MGDI60731 15 Optional
Migration and Development MGDI60742 15 Optional
Sustainable Futures and Development MGDI60852 15 Optional
Planning and Managing Development MGDI70992 15 Optional
Urban Development Planning in Cities of the South: an international perspective PLAN72061 15 Optional
Best practice case studies in urban development planning in cities in the South PLAN72072 15 Optional
Critical Environmental Politics POLI70921 15 Optional
The Politics of Global Climate Change POLI71141 15 Optional
Displaying 10 of 24 course units

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