MSc Global Development (Environment and Climate Change)

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

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £15,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £30,500

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.

The overarching aims of this course unit are: (i) to introduce students to a range of approaches for achieving transitions to sustainability; and (ii) to equip students with the skills to evaluate different proposed transition strategies from socio-economic, ecological, and social justice perspectives.

The overarching aims of this course unit are: (i) to introduce students to a range of approaches for achieving transitions to sustainability; and (ii) to equip students with the skills to evaluate different proposed transition strategies from socio-economic, ecological, and social justice perspectives.

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

- Sustainability transitions and transformations

- Justice and sustainability transitions

- Indigenous/other-than-Western approaches to sustainability

- Degrowth

- Energy transitions

- Food systems transitions

-  Marine sustainability

- Digital-driven transitions to sustainability

- Sustainability transitions in other select sectors, such as fashion or mining 

This course uses a blended learning approach, which means that you will complete some course activities independently online and other course activities in-person during tutorials.
· Online tasks: You will complete compulsorily readings in advance of attending tutorials each week. You will also engage in online discussion forums before and after weekly sessions when prompted.  
· In-person tasks: You will attend weekly lectures and tutorials. Most tutorials will involve working through case studies and other activities in small groups that are related to the week’s lecture and readings. Tutorials will play an important role in preparing you for your case study assessments, which will also be completed in small groups 

• Describe approaches designed to achieve transitions/transformations to more sustainable futures.
• Discuss different definitions and understandings of transformative change and just transitions to sustainability from diverse actors

• Evaluate the benefits and trade-offs of different approaches to transition.
• Critically analyse a case study on a sustainability challenge and compare and contrast different approaches to achieving sustainability.

• Work effectively in teams to carry out a case study analysis.

• Explain the strengths and risks of different approaches to just transition in language appropriate to both academic and non-academic audiences.
• Apply problem-solving skills/approaches to real-world sustainability challenges.

Assessment 1: Case Study Problem Statement  30 %
Assessment 2: Group Case Study Analysis (2,500 words) 70 %

Feedback will be provided on VLE within the standard period for feedback 

Scoones, I., Stirling, A., Abrol, D., Atela, J., Charli-Joseph, L., Eakin, H., Ely, A., Olsson, P., Pereira, L., Priya, R. and van Zwanenberg, P. (2020). Transformations to sustainability: combining structural, systemic and enabling approaches. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 42, 65-75.

Forum for the Future. (2020). From Systems Shock to Systems Change – Time to Transform. The Future of Sustainability. Available online: https://www.thefuturescentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Future-of-Sustainability-2020_Time-to-transform.pd

Bhambra, G.K. and Newell, P. (2022) More than a metaphor: ‘climate colonialism’ in perspective, Global Social Challenges Journal, XX(XX): 1–9, DOI: 10.1332/EIEM6688

Ghosh, B., Ramos-Mejía, M., Machado, R. C., Yuana, S. L., & Schiller, K. (2021). Decolonising transitions in the Global South: Towards more epistemic diversity in transitions research. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 41, 106-109.

Hölscher, K., Wittmayer, J. M., & Loorbach, D. (2018). Transition versus transformation: What’s the difference?. Environmental innovation and societal transitions, 27, 1-3.

Temper, L., Walter, M., Rodriguez, I., Kothari, A., & Turhan, E. (2018). A perspective on radical transformations to sustainability: resistances, movements and alternatives. Sustainability Science, 13(3), 747-764

Escobar, A. (2015). Degrowth, postdevelopment, and transitions: a preliminary conversation. Sustainability Science, 10(3), 451-462.

Feola, G. (2020). Capitalism in sustainability transitions research: Time for a critical turn?. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 35, 241-250.