Environmental Management and Policy - Master's Programme

The key features of the programme are: interdisciplinary learning, international perspectives and practically applied studies. The EMP is focused on both environmental policy and environmental management. This is based on our collective experience that decision makers within both these spheres benefit vastly from having such a dual understanding. More and more, we find that many alumni, regardless of their profession or sector, work within the realms of both public policy and corporate management to move the environmental agenda further.

Special features of the programme
Tomorrow’s change starts in the reality of today. Our students are challenged to develop professional skills, knowledge and networks in close collaboration with industry and society – to this end, the EMP is set up to convey a detailed and methodical understanding of technical and societal systems.

Our teaching approach is characterised by an interdisciplinary and multicultural classroom – features that apply to both teachers and students – contributing to a creative atmosphere that pervades the whole of the institute. Our exceptionally engaged alumni network is globally distributed in a multitude of professional roles; they are contributing to the EMP programme through numerous activities. The EMP typically comprises a class size of around 30 students facilitating a tight on-site community and enabling an interactive, dynamic learning that equips graduates with personal and social skills way beyond the academic theory. Designed to build on the knowledge that students have acquired during the first cycle, or undergraduate education, and work experience, the EMP programme explicitly includes learning activities that encourage the peer-to-peer sharing of experience and perspectives. Thereby, students can take advantage of their diverse collective experience and benefit from this interdisciplinary exchange to great effect.

The programme is set up to offer a variety of opportunities to collaborate with and learn from a range of practitioners; we go to great lengths to enable student groups to visit and study industry sites and engage in projects with external clients.

Programme modules/courses
EMP courses consist of five major blocks:

• Courses teaching knowledge and skills fundamental for all sustainability professionals, including environmental issues, technical systems, life cycle assessment, and environmental economics
• Courses related to corporate environmental management
• Courses related to environmental policy at urban, regional, national and international levels
• Project-based courses with real-world stakeholders and clients
• Capstone courses, including a thesis project, that allow for a focused specialisation built on applying all preceding learning in the programme to specific tasks and circumstances

Course distribution over the four semesters:
Semester 1: Environmental Systems and the Anthropocene, Fundamentals of Technical Systems, Fundamentals of Economics and Economic Valuation of Environmental Change, Lifecycle assessment (LCA) and environmental assessment approaches, Introduction to Business Management and Corporate Responsibility, Introduction to Policy and Law.
Semester 2: Industrial Environmental Management in Practice, Environmental Law and Policy in Practice, Sustainable  Business Value Creation, elective course: Environmental Management and Strategy in Practice – Business Consulting, elective course: Environmental Management and Policy in Practice – Internship.
Semester 3: Environmental Policy Analysis, Interdisciplinary Research Design, Capstone Client Project.
Semester 4: Degree Project