MA Education for a Sustainable Environment

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,900

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

Within the last two centuries, industrial society has generated unprecedented rates of environmental change. A firm commitment to economic optimisation, coupled with a faith in science and technology as a force of modernisation, has pushed environmental systems up to and beyond sustainable limits. Responding to the challenge of environmental change therefore requires a renewed understanding of the relationship between the economy, society and the environment and the development of more appropriate forms of intervention.  

• Explore the linkages between environmental change, environmental justice and sustainable development
• Understand the complexities associated with planning for phenomena that are dynamic and often poorly understood, and gain skills in navigating these complexities
• Explore the synergies and conflicts between the theories and practices aimed at responding to environmental change
• Develop an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of environmental planning practices, and push the frontiers of what that practice could be
   

This course unit’s aims and learning outcomes contribute towards the knowledge, skills and professional standards of the year as a whole.

This module considers the drivers, pressures and impacts of environmental change. It provides the theoretical framing to appraise and make sense of a range of practical responses. It explores the opportunities presented by an endeavour to design for a regenerative future. Issues are explored in particular within the context of the Greater Manchester city region, as well as through international examples. 

A variety of perspectives are presented from academics and practitioners about ways to respond to environmental change in practice. The first assignment gives students an opportunity to develop their practical understanding by applying the ideas developed on the course to a local landscape (visited on the fieldtrip). The second assgnment develops a more in-depth theoretical understanding, as a basis for furture professional development and reflective practice. 

A high degree of critical analysis will be encouraged, building on both the theory and practice of planning for environmental change. Lectures will introduce a range of perspectives, creating a theoretical basis for critical thought and application of the ideas developed in the course to different areas of practice. A high degree of student engagement with the learning process will be encouraged through interactive workshops, particularly linked to the module assignments and discussion during the lectures. 

• Illustrate linkages between environmental change, environmental justice and sustainable development when exploring future options
• Identify the complexities and uncertainties that affect strategic decision-making in the context of environmental planning

• Critically appraise different environmental planning responses
• Situate different environmental planning responses within the broader context of sustainable development

• Be able to evaluate the possible dimensions of environmental change of actions and projects
• Be better prepared to plan responses to environmental change in a variety of contexts

• Demonstrate professional communication skills
• Demonstrate a reflective attitude towards professional practice in environmental planning
   

Individual essay (2500 words) 90%

Reflective learning journal (500 words) 10%

Written feedback will be provided within 15 working days of assignment submission.

Agyeman, J Schlosberg D, Craven L and Matthews C (2016) ‘Trends and Directions in Environmental Justice: From Inequity to Everyday Life, Community, and Just Sustainabilities Annual Review of Environment and Resources Vol. 41: 321-340

Benson, J and Roe, M. (2000) Landscape Sustainability, Spon, London.

Birkeland, Janis. 2008. Positive development: from vicious circles to virtuous cycles through built environment design. London: EARTHSCAN.

Davoudi, S., Crawford, J., and Mehmood, A. (eds). 2009. Planning for Climate Change: Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation for Spatial Planners. Earthscan, London.

Haughton, G. (2010) The New Spatial Planning: Territorial Management with Soft Spaces and Fuzzy Boundaries, Routledge, London.

Hickey, S. and Mohan, G. (2004) Participation: from tyranny to transformation? Exploring new approaches to participation in development London, Zed Books.

Hough, M. (2006) Cities & Natural Process, Routledge, London. World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

McDonough, William, Michael Braungart, Paul T. Anastas, and Julie B. Zimmerman. 2003. Peer Reviewed: Applying the Principles of Green Engineering to Cradle-to-Cradle Design. Environmental Science & Technology 37, no. 23 (December 1): 434A-441A

Morris, Stuart Alastair & Tippet, Joanne (2023) 'Perceptions and practice in Natural Flood Management: unpacking differences in community and practitioner perspectives', Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2192861

Pelling M. 2010. Adaptation to Climate Change: From Resilience to Transformation. Taylor and Francis, Hoboken. Available on line through library.

Robèrt, Karl-Henrik. 2000. ‘Tools and Concepts for Sustainable Development, How Do They Relate to a General Framework for Sustainable Development, and to Each Other?’ Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (3): 243–54.

Selman, P. (2006) Planning at the Landscape Scale, Routledge, London.

Tippett, J. and How, F. 2020. ‘Where to lean the ladder of participation: a normative heuristic for effective coproduction processes’, Town Planning Review, 91, (2), 109–132.  https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2020.7

Wheeler, S. M. and Beatley, T. (Editors) (2014) Sustainable Urban Development Reader (Routledge Urban Reader Series)

White, I. (2010) Water and the City: risk, resilience and planning for a sustainable future, Routledge: London.

Wondolleck, J. M..,Yaffee, S. L..2000. Making Collaboration Work - Lessons from Innovation in Natural Resource Management.Washington D.C. Island Press