The Department of Public and Social Administration of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences is launching a degree in environmental policy in the academic year 2009-2010. The 3-year honours degree provides students with the necessary multi-disciplinary academic and professional training in governance and policy-making as they relate to the natural environment.

The state of the environment is today one of the most challenging, contested and important subjects in politics.  This rise in prominence reflects the widespread public concern that the planet is confronting an ecological crisis. Meanwhile, global capitalism and consumerist lifestyles grow even more demanding on the environment. The analysis of public policy making and implementation affecting the environment at international, national and local levels has now become an established subject of academic enquiry. Thus, this new environmental policy degree offers a new generation of policy makers the opportunity to understand the nature of environmental problems, to think analytically and strategically about policy solutions, and communicate these ideas efficiently and effectively. 

The programme is taught jointly by highly qualified faculty of the Departments of Public and Social Administration, Asian and International Studies, and Biology and Chemistry. Well regarded in their scholarship, the programme’s faculty has also strong links with the academic and professional international communities.

Admission to this programme is expected to be very competitive.

Broadly, the BSocSc (Hons) in Environmental Policy curriculum is made up of four knowledge blocks:

• A firm foundation in natural sciences that provides an understanding of the nature of environmental issues and with a knowledge base of how physical, chemical and biological processes can be utilized to mitigate or eliminate the effects of human activity on the environment
• A firm foundation in social sciences that supplies knowledge of the sociological, political, legal and economic aspects and interactions between people and the Earth, and with the ability to translate scientific knowledge into policy and/or technical recommendations
• A firm foundation in applied ethics through the understanding of the ethical and normative issues related to the natural environment
• The practical skills to succeed as an environmental policy professional through insights into the position of environmental policy studies in relation to other areas of policy; insights into the fields of activity of professional environmental policy makers; and skills to function effectively in multidisciplinary teams dealing with research, policy development and management of environmental issues