Sustainable Planning and Environmental Management MSc

About the course

The breadth of material covered in this new MSc in Sustainable Planning gives students the skills they need in order to meet contemporary sustainability challenges in planning. Planning has a key role to play in improving the condition of life in our towns, cities and rural areas. Towns and cities themselves impact on global sustainability and can play a very influential role in tackling global environmental, social and economic problems. Equally, implementing sustainability principles within urban and rural areas is essential for the well-being of the local residents and improvement of the local environment. Creating more sustainable towns and cities will be central to the future of society and the planet. The planning system is so important because it provides one of the most sophisticated mechanisms for regulating environmental change. Recent policy changes have made planning in neighbourhoods and in communities even more important.

Increasingly planners are being required to facilitate the creation of more sustainable urban environments. This requires expertise and skills in a diverse range of disciplines and nationally there is a shortage of relevant skills. This course offers both personal opportunities for students to gain valuable skills that make them highly employable, and allows them to contribute to a much needed and fast changing professional area.

To find out more about this course and speak to current tutors and students come along to our Open Evening on Thursday 24th October

Why choose this course?

This exciting new course is specifically aimed at people wishing to gain expertise in contemporary sustainability issues. It provides graduates with excellent career opportunities in planning, environmental management, urban design, community development, regeneration, transport management, climate change mitigation and other planning related careers.

The course is suitable for:

• Students who have work experience in planning or related discipline and require a postgraduate qualification and subsequent professional accreditation to develop their career further.
• New graduates starting their career in planning with a first degree in geography, environmental science, conservation, sociology, architecture and urban studies.
• Students from other disciplines who have developed an interest in planning from voluntary work, work experience or project work.

Key Features:

• A combination of stimulating academic study and strong career orientation
• Focus on the role of planning in addressing key sustainability concerns: climate change; urban sprawl; social cohesion; and demands for personal mobility
• Using the latest techniques including GIS; urban design tools and community design engagement techniques such as charettes
• Practical problem based approach to learning that uses real planning issues and case studies
• Flexibility of study based on a programme of short courses scheduled over two or three days at weekends
• UK field trips including visits to the start of town planning nearby at Letchworth and the first New Towns
• International study visit to look at European best practice in France and Germany.

Study routes

• Part Time, 3 Years
• Full Time, 1 Years
• Full Time,

Locations

• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Careers

When you graduate from this course you will have excellent career opportunities in planning, environmental management, urban design and urbanism, community development and regeneration, transport management, climate change mitigation and adaptation and other planning related careers - all with a special focus on maximizing your sustainability expertise. Prospective employers include: local government; private sector planning consultancies; specialist consultancies in environmental management, urban design, transport planning; public involvement bodies; national government agencies; third sector employers including charities with an urban and rural focus; and professional bodies.

Teaching methods

The MSc Sustainable Planning course structure is based on a series of two to three day short courses and tutorials that usually run Friday and Saturday, though some modules may require a Thursday as well.

For full time students the modules run approximately twice a month which means that you will be attending classes on four weekdays and two Saturdays.

Part-time students attend the MSc Sustainable Planning short courses over two years. This makes the course easy to attend and fit around a busy workload schedule.

The modules that you study include:

• Urban Design and Conservation
• Urban Regeneration
• Planning law, policy and practice
• Spatial Analysis for Planning
• Sustainable Communities and Environment
• Place-making and Spatial Mediation
• Spatial Planning: Theories and Strategies
• Travel Planning and energy management
• Transport Planning and Urban Mobility
• Spatial Planning: theories and strategies
• Transport Analysis for Planning
• Community Engagement and the Planning Process
• Planning for Rural Communities

Pathways through the MSc allow students to specialise in transport or aspects of environmental management such as water resources and environmental policy and governance.

All these modules can be studied individually as a stand-alone course for your personal development or CPD training, so please enquire for further details.

View the MSc Sustainable Planning prospectus

The course integrates a blended learning approach combining face-to-face teaching and tutorials with online learning materials, easy contact with tutors and online submission of assignments. It includes workshops, field work, class exercises, investigations and group work. The costs of UK and European field visits are included in the course fee.

All of the modules are assessed through coursework. The nature of the coursework will vary but will include experience in report writing, practical urban design work (no drawing or architecture background is required), oral presentations and negotiation skills.

Students also carry out an extended individual project. This is an opportunity to follow a particular interest in depth and do primary research. We encourage and support students to link with external organisations such as local government, voluntary sector organisations or planning consultancies to produce a piece of primary research that is both academically challenging and of practical benefit.

Structure

Year 1

Core Modules

• Development Viability

  This module aims to allow students to develop an understanding of the key elements of the property development process within the UK and internationally. Students will understand how property development encompasses a range of skills and knowledge derived from a number of disciplines. Students will become familiar with the roles of the key stakeholders in the development process and how the risks and rewards are shared. Of key importance to planners are the ways in which some of the benefits from the development process can be retained for the benefit of local communities. Through the use of a range of case studies students will become familiar with and be able to critique appraisals submitted by developers. Case studies and lecture material will cover projects in both the commercial and residential sectors. Progress within the sector towards sustainable development and local initiatives to support green jobs will be critically examined and its achievements evaluated.

• Environmental Policy and Governance

  The module focuses on how developing the students' knowledge and understanding of environmental policy and governance. In particular, the following topic areas may be considered: policy instruments available to protect the environment; environmental governance at a range of spatial levels; environmental policy making in government; how environmental law operates; and the role Environmental Management Systems can play in helping organisations achieve compliance with environmental protection measures.

• Place-making and Spatial Mediation

  This module is designed to introduce students to the concepts of place and space and the ways in which and how these mediate. In the course of this module students will develop a range of analytical skills to enable them to become informed decision-makers and to foster an awareness of value judgments, deliberation processes and ethical considerations. This module focuses attention on the need to enhance and develop communities that can be experienced by residents and visitors with a high level of quality, form, function, connectivity and identity, and in so doing recognises the role of place-making in building sustainable communities.

• Planning law, policy & practice

  This module is designed to combine theory and policy in what is generally termed praxis. Ideally, theory should underpin planning practice at all levels from local to global, in all types of policy-making. In turn, practice should inform theory. Theory, therefore, helps planners to understand the environments (social, economic and environmental) in which they plan, why they plan, and how they plan. By increasing understanding we may be able to better plan for a sustainable future.

• Spatial Planning: Theories and Strategies

  This module provides concepts and skills for considering planning interventions. It introduces some socio-spatial and process ideas on how and why to develop spatial strategies at a range of scales from local to global. Students will work in groups on a range of intensive topics to develop a spatial strategy for specific examples at a range of scales and within a variety of spatial contexts. Through attending lectures, workshops and site visits and through working on this strategy, students will have the opportunity to develop these skills and understanding.

• Sustainable Communities & Environment

  This module is designed to develop a detailed knowledge of the concept of sustainable communities at a variety of levels, but principally at the urban and neighbourhood levels. The module develops an understanding of how communities have been affected by the processes of globalisation and the planning that is necessary as a result of these processes. The ways in which planning decisions can help shape sustainable communities is a key aspect of the module. The module is designed to acquire skills of development strategies and implementation. The module also considers how societies change and develop and considers the implications of this when planning for the sustainable community.

• Sustainable Energy

  The module provides an overview of key issues relating to sustainable energy and climate change in the context of spatial planning in the UK. To understand the problems, students first need to understand the main energy sources and broad patterns of energy consumption. Climate change is an increasingly significant consideration for plan making. Planners and energy managers need develop positive adaptation and mitigation strategies. The module draws on examples of good practice from the UK and internationally. To make decisions about responses to climate change practitioners need data, particularly the information available through the UK Climate Impacts Programme. Energy use is an issue that cuts across spatial scales. While it is most commonly considered at the scale of the individual building it is also important at the neighbourhood and wider scale. Energy use and behaviour change issues provide an important balance to technical solutions proposed for individual buildings.

• Sustainable Planning Dissertation

  The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to carry out work in an area of planning that particularly interests them. Students are encouraged to choose an issue that addresses a contemporary concern in planning practice. They may choose to work on their dissertation with an external organisation such as a local authority, planning consultancy or voluntary sector organisation. The subject students select for their dissertation should reflect the specialism of their chosen pathway. Students on the transport pathway must complete a transport related dissertation and students on the environmental management pathway must complete an environmental management related dissertation. The dissertation includes individual research. Students are also expected to integrate material from their taught classes in addressing the topic. All planning problems will raise social, economic and environmental issues, although the nature of the topic will influence the importance of each of these elements.

• Urban Design and Conservation

  This module is designed to develop a detailed knowledge of the usages and potential for urban design. This is done by considering urban design in a range of contexts both temporal and spatial, in order to better understand and conceptualise the ways in which urban design can facilitate a sustainable urban liveability. Furthermore, this module will develop an appreciation of the idea of the historic city and its evolution and how we must plan accordingly to develop a greater appreciation of the social, cultural and economic heritage. This will be done through gaining an understanding of conservation approaches and the relationship between the historic city and the planning system.

Optional

• Environmental Policy and Governance

  The module focuses on how developing the students' knowledge and understanding of environmental policy and governance. In particular, the following topic areas may be considered: policy instruments available to protect the environment; environmental governance at a range of spatial levels; environmental policy making in government; how environmental law operates; and the role Environmental Management Systems can play in helping organisations achieve compliance with environmental protection measures.

• Research Methods

  The module will introduce the main principles of research methodology, different approaches to solving a problem and the choice of appropriate research methodology. Natural science and social science research approaches will be explored including the development of the research question. Methods for sampling and data gathering will be described including experimentation, questionnaires, interviews, case studies, action research, content analysis and observation. Quantitative and qualitative data, its analysis, interpretation, presentation and reporting will be explored. A research proposal will be formulated with guidance from a project supervisor, which is relevant to the chosen pathway of environmental management, or environmental management for business, or environmental management for agriculture, or water and environmental management.

• Sustainability and Environmental Systems

  This module gives a basis for an understanding of a range of global, regional and local environmental issues. The module also explains the impacts of organisations and business processes, products and services on the environment and society. The philosophy and concepts underpinning sustainability, sustainable development and the role of environmental management are examined. The role of external drivers is explored and the module demonstrates how proper understanding of these drivers can lead to improved business management. Methods and tools for improving environmental performance are introduced including environmental management systems. The notion of the environment as a business opportunity is explored.

Fees & funding

Fees 2013

UK/EU Students

Full time: £5,255 for the 2013 academic year

International Students

Discounts are available for International students if payment is made in full at registration

View detailed information about tuition fees

Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

View detailed information about our accommodation

How to apply