Sustainability and Global Environmental Futures

MA

  • Entry year 2025
  • Duration Full time 1 year, Part time 2 years

Overview

Top reasons to study with us

  • Engage with leading, socially-engaged academics

  • 96% Satisfaction with Learning Resources Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2023

  • Hone your research skills via a group project

The School of Global Affairs offers four master’s degrees that share a common ethos and course structure. Each provides distinctive yet interconnected opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge, relationships and partnerships needed to meet the global challenges of our time.

Why Lancaster?

  • Join a diverse, interdisciplinary team with impressive environmental expertise across the arts, humanities, and social sciences
  • Develop a practical and future-orientated understanding of how to tackle environmental challenges and contribute to possible solutions
  • Learn global leadership skills that equip you to participate in challenging negotiations on local, national and international scales
  • Work collaboratively with students across our suite of master’s courses to build your own interdisciplinary professional network
  • Be inspired by our gorgeous green campus, close to historic Lancaster and spectacular coastal and mountain scenery
  • Prepare yourself to work for national and international organisations such as environmental think tanks and protection agencies

What are the key causes of environmental change? What is stopping nations from collectively shaping a more sustainable relationship between people and the environment? Our innovative master’s course offers fresh thinking on how to address some of the biggest challenges of our times, equipping you to play a transformative role in finding viable solutions.

Tackling climate catastrophe

Our master’s in Global Sustainability and Environmental Futures analyses the relationship between people and the environment. Using critical concepts, theories and practices drawn from across the arts, humanities, and social and natural sciences, you’ll learn tools that will enable you to unpick the complexity of human and non-human interests in environmental futures.

You’ll engage with educational, scientific, legal and regulatory approaches to dealing with global issues such as violences, sites of trauma and conflict, inequalities, poverty and environmental injustice. You'll explore the past, present and future of environmental change, including topics such as Global Environmental Politics, and Environmental Crisis and Societal Change.

Through a variety of modules ,you’ll be encouraged to draw on different disciplines and work collaboratively as you consider issues from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders and seek workable solutions.

Collaboration in practice

This master’s course is one of a series of four interconnected courses that have a common ethos and structure.

You’ll take part in subject-specific modules designed to build in-depth knowledge of global sustainability and environmental challenges and assess, engage in and create responses to real world issues.

In studio modules you’ll work collaboratively with other MA students, responding to live community briefs, connecting Lancaster’s research with both local environments and global issues.

For some modules, you’ll join with students from other master’s cohorts on projects that will develop your leadership skills – using generative, collaborative thinking to create innovative solutions that are relevant to diverse external stakeholders.

Working with students from our other cohorts will bring you into contact with those specialising in global affairs, AI, and global health and medical humanities. You’ll experience the benefits that harnessing skills and knowledge from diverse groups and subjects can bring.

You’ll have the opportunity to tailor your final project to draw on your academic, personal or professional experience. A range of innovative assessment types will give you the freedom to represent your chosen topic creatively and persuasively.

Become a leader in change

With its dedicated leadership module, this course prepares you for a future as a collaborative change-maker. The course challenges traditional views of leadership. It adopts an understanding of inclusive leadership that is grounded in critical, creative and collaborative skills - a holistic and humanistic way of thinking.

By taking this interdisciplinary approach and engaging in the discourses of leadership ethics, you will be equipped to bring about positive change in your chosen field.

You will benefit from Lancaster’s rich, collaborative academic environment, being able to participate actively in research events and opportunities provided by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

Careers

This course will appeal to those wishing to move into a challenging but rewarding career where you can make a difference to the world we live in. You may already be engaged in a professional role and looking to advance or change your career path.

We welcome students from a broad range of academic backgrounds including the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and management subjects. This master’s provides the opportunity to extend your prior educational and work experience in new directions.

You may be interested in roles with:

  • Public and private sector environmental research
  • Think tanks and lobbying organisations
  • Environmental regulators and protection agencies
  • Third-sector and social enterprise organisations
  • International organisations and agencies

Entry requirements

Academic Requirements

2:1 Hons degree (UK or equivalent) in any subject, or 2:2 with professional experience relevant to the programme (please give further detail of your experience in your personal statement).

The personal statement should be a 300-500 word reflection on your interest in the programme, the relevance of your experience and what you hope to gain from the programme.

The department plan to interview all eligible applicants.

If you have studied outside of the UK, we would advise you to check our list of international qualifications before submitting your application.

English Language Requirements

We may ask you to provide a recognised English language qualification, dependent upon your nationality and where you have studied previously.

We normally require an IELTS (Academic) Test with an overall score of at least 6.5, and a minimum of 6.0 in each element of the test. We also consider other English language qualifications.

If your score is below our requirements, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language programmes.

Contact: Admissions Team +44 (0) 1524 592032 or email pgadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Pre-master’s programmes

Delivered in partnership with INTO Lancaster University, our one-year tailored pre-master’s pathways are designed to improve your subject knowledge and English language skills to the level required by a range of Lancaster University master’s degrees. Visit the INTO Lancaster University website for more details and a list of eligible degrees you can progress onto.

Course structure

You will study a range of modules as part of your course, some examples of which are listed below.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research. Not all optional modules are available every year.

Core

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Optional

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Fees and funding

Location Full Time (per year) Part Time (per year)
Home £11,960 £5,980
International £24,830 £12,415

General fees and funding information

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Scholarships and bursaries

You may be eligible for the following funding opportunities, depending on your fee status and course. You will be automatically considered for our main scholarships and bursaries when you apply, so there's nothing extra that you need to do.

Unfortunately no scholarships and bursaries match your selection, but there are more listed on scholarships and bursaries page.

If you're considering postgraduate research you should look at our funded PhD opportunities.

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We also have other, more specialised scholarships and bursaries - such as those for students from specific countries.

Browse Lancaster University's scholarships and bursaries.

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Important Information

The information on this site relates primarily to 2025/2026 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.

The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.

More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.

Our Students’ Charter

We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.