Program Overview

Introduction to the Graduate Programme in Climate Change and Sustainability

The Graduate Programme in Climate Change and Sustainability offers a comprehensive curriculum that explores the complex relationships between climate change, sustainability, and human societies. This programme is designed to equip students with a deep understanding of the science, policy, and practice of climate change and sustainability.

Programme Structure

The programme consists of several courses that provide a thorough grounding in the principles and practices of climate change and sustainability. These courses include:

• CCS5101 Climate Change – The Science and the Policy: This course provides an overview of the science and policy of climate change, covering topics such as climate scenarios, climate impacts, and climate policies.
• CCS5102 Sustainability and Climate Change: This course explores different models of sustainability and their critiques, with a focus on the challenges of developing sustainable initiatives in the context of climate change.
• CCS5103 Political Economy of Climate Change and Sustainable Development: This course introduces the political and economic dimensions of climate governance, exploring key issues at the policy-science interface of climate governance.
• CCS5104 Methods and Practice in Sustainability: This course introduces students to the principles and practice of research design, adopting an epistemologically grounded approach to learning social science research methods.
• CCS5201 Introduction to Climate Modelling: This course introduces the science and techniques of climate modelling, providing students with a basic understanding of how climate models work.
• CCS5202 Climate Hazards, Risks and Uncertainty: This course explores the changes in magnitude and frequency of hazards across marine, hydrological, climatic, and ecological systems, evaluating the cascading and compounding outcomes of the changing hazardscape.
• CCS5203 Resilience of Socio-Ecological Systems: This course covers a variety of conceptual and analytical frames through which to filter complexity and enhance resilience of social-ecological systems.
• CCS5204 Water, Food and Energy Insecurities: This course discusses key issues in the nexus among water, food, and energy, in the context of climate change, laying insights into viewing this nexus as a ‘resource scarcity’.
• CCS5205 Sustainable Finance: This course introduces the origins, theories, practices, geographies, and debates on sustainable finance, explaining how finance affects and is affected by economic, social, and environmental issues.
• CCS5206 How to Live Well on a Damaged Planet: This course explores how life is being reshaped, reimagined, and re-practiced in the Anthropocene, centering approaches drawn from social and cultural geography alongside geohumanities, environmental humanities, and science and technology studies.
• CCS5207 Coastal Vulnerability, Risk and Adaptation: This course explores the vulnerability and risk posed by sea-level rise in coastal communities, examining adaptation approaches and implementation strategies adopted.
• CCS5208 Urban Climate Change: This course examines the physical characteristics of cities and their effects on surface energy and water balances, offering a scientific foundation to understand urban climate.
• CCS5301 Research Project in Climate Change and Sustainability: This course provides the opportunity for students to conduct an in-depth research project as part of the MSc in Climate Change and Sustainability, applying relevant research approaches and techniques under the guidance of an advisor.

Research Areas

The programme covers a range of research areas, including:

• Climate change and sustainability
• Climate modelling and prediction
• Climate hazards, risks, and uncertainty
• Resilience of socio-ecological systems
• Water, food, and energy insecurities
• Sustainable finance
• Urban climate change
• Coastal vulnerability, risk, and adaptation

Conclusion

The Graduate Programme in Climate Change and Sustainability offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex relationships between climate change, sustainability, and human societies. With a range of courses and research areas, this programme provides students with a deep understanding of the science, policy, and practice of climate change and sustainability, equipping them to address the challenges of a rapidly changing world.