BSc Environmental Management with Professional Placement / Course details

BSc Environmental Management with Professional Placement is a four-year degree studying the Earth's natural resources, the way in which human societies interact with them, and ways in which they can be sustainably managed.

Understanding both scientific principles and relevant policy frameworks is essential if we are to address global environmental challenges including the climate and biodiversity crises and sustainable development.

The course has a strong focus on practice and applied skills, and you will study environmental processes and their management by combining small group, classroom-based learning with fieldwork.

Your third year will normally be spent working in the environmental sector in a paid placement for between 9-12 months. Excitingly, you could be working for an environmental consultancy in the private sector, for local government in the public sector, or for an environmental charity in the third sector.

By the time you graduate, you will have an advanced understanding of environmental systems and processes, and the policies and practices involved in their management.

You will also have gained a wide range of practice-based skills, which enhance your employability including measuring a wide range of environmental impacts in the field, conducting ecological surveys and contemporary approaches to enhancing biodiversity, undertaking environmental impact assessments, and using important digital skills such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

During the degree you will also acquire a wide range of transferable skills including project management, presenting complex information in a range of formats and styles, professional report writing and team-working.

Manchester is a great place to study environmental management; it is a major UK city undergoing rapid urban change, which provides an ideal base for experiencing the challenge of balancing urban development pressures with their environmental impacts.

Manchester is also ideally placed for you to learn about a wide variety of rural environments, including being within easy reach of three spectacular National Parks, areas of intensive and sustainable agriculture, and impressive coastlines.

The city of Manchester and its surrounding environments are important resources for field teaching across your four years of study.

Gain real-world experience on work placements

To prepare for your paid year-long placement in your third year , you will normally have the opportunity in your second year to spend time outside the University on a short (2 or 4 week) placement with an organisation in the environmental management sector - equipping you with hands-on experience and wide-ranging environmental, sustainability or ecological skills.

International fieldwork

This course has normally included a residential field trip during your second year, usually to a European country, where you can put what you have learnt into practice in a different context. Past locations have included Porto and the Douro valley in northern Portugal where students learnt about diverse topics including renewable energy production, sustainable approaches to port wine production and wildfire risk.

Study abroad

You will normally have the opportunity to apply to spend one semester studying abroad at one of our exchange partners in Europe, the US, South East Asia and Australia.

We combine traditional lecture-based teaching with field visits, tutorials, seminars and workshop sessions.

Practical subjects, such as learning how to analyse spatial data and produce maps in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and analyse environmental data - as well as general computer skills - are taught in university computer suites.

Practical field skills and data analysis are taught in a range of different environments, including urban and rural locations. Sessions analysing environmental samples sometimes make use of the School laboratories.

This work is accompanied by small-group learning, giving you an overall hands-on learning experience.

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.

We place strong emphasis on coursework and continuous assessment.

Coursework takes a variety of forms - from essays and reports, to posters, oral presentations, and project demonstrations (sometimes to practising professionals). We also incorporate lots of opportunities for feedback on non-assessed work so that you can be confident about your progress.

Your professional placement year will be assessed on completion, through a reflective report about your experiences and the implications of the placement on your desired career trajectory and overall employability.

Your dissertation, which takes place in the fourth year, will draw together the different strands of the course and allow you to study a subject that really interests you.

You will work with an individual supervisor to conceive, plan, execute and write up an independent and novel piece of research.

Read more about Noor's experience in her student profile.

You can develop your practical skills in a wide range of field study locations, specialist laboratories for fieldwork analysis, and computer suites with specialist spatial analysis software.

See facilities  for more information.