Program Overview

MSc Environmental Management

Course summary

This interdisciplinary course prepares you for a career in the professional environmental management sector. You'll tackle global challenges by creatively applying environmental knowledge, critical analysis of evidence and collaborative engagement with wicked problems, in often complex and complicated socio-environmental systems.

How you learn

You'll explore and critically assess the core skills, tools, ethics and practices of environmental management. Your learning will be assessed through coursework in a wide and accessible range of forms.

• Large group lectures to introduce core themes
• Expert practitioner guest speakers
• Smaller group seminars and workshops
• IT laboratories and field visits
• Practical exercises
• Professional skills portfolios
• Academic essays
• Presentations
• A published book chapter
• A major independent project

Key Themes

• Primary and secondary data gathering, processing and analysis using Geographical Information Systems
• Presentation and interpretation of spatial data and its integration in decision-making processes
• Modern environmental management case studies from around the world, exploring the ethics, values and motivations that drive action
• Practical skills to core areas of environmental management practice, such as environmental management systems, habitat assessment, water safety planning, life-cycle assessment and multi-hazard disaster risk reduction
• Major global environmental challenges that environmental managers face, identifying solutions through systems-level change, underpinned by the cultures and dynamics of human-environment relationships

Modules

Compulsory modules

• Applied Environmental Management (30 credits)
  • Assessment: Coursework (100%)
• Contemporary Environmental Challenges (30 credits)
  • Assessment: Coursework (100%)
• Environmental Perspectives, Policy And Projects (30 credits)
  • Assessment: Coursework (100%)
• Independent Project (60 credits)
  • Assessment: Coursework (100%)
• Spatial And Environmental Skills (30 credits)
  • Assessment: Coursework (100%)

Future careers

This course prepares you for a career in the professional environmental management sector, for example as:

• An environment and sustainability consultant
• A conservation project manager (with suitable extra-curricular experience)
• An environment officer in local or national government
• A sustainability lead in the private sector

Equipment and facilities

• Specialist IT facilities include GIS software such as ArcGIS, SPSS and Digimap
• Practical projects may access well-equipped workshop and laboratory resources on campus

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

Entry requirements

• Normal entry requirements are a minimum 2.2 honours degree or equivalent
• International qualifications are suitable if they are equivalent to a UK 2.2 honours degree
• If English is not your first language you typically need an IELTS 6.0 score with a minimum of 5.5 in all skills or equivalent

Fees and funding

• Home students: £10,940 for the course
• International/EU students: £18,600 for the course
• Postgraduate student loans: Up to £12,858 is available in 2025/26 for home students on most masters courses

Additional course costs

• The links below allow you to view estimated general course additional costs, as well as costs associated with key activities on specific courses
• These are estimates and are intended only as an indication of potential additional expenses
• Actual costs can vary greatly depending on the choices you make during your course
• General course additional costs
• Additional costs for Sheffield Institute of Social Sciences (PDF, 614.1KB)