MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation

About the MSc programme

There is a growing recognition in both public and private spheres of the need for greater environmental protection. Yet how do broad concerns lead to specific policies or plans, and what factors shape the performance of different regulatory instruments on the ground? This one year MSc programme (two years for part-time students) analyses the nature and efficacy of different approaches to environmental policy and regulation. It considers the influence of different forms of environmental policy and regulation at the international, national and local levels and the role of environmental evaluation techniques. Issues are addressed within a distinctive social science framework that uses theory to understand practice, thereby equipping students with the skills they need to work on environmental policy and regulation in the public, private or NGO sectors.

Taking students with first degrees in a wide range of areas, the programme is designed to enable participants to:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the tools available for environmental policy and regulation, and the diverse contexts within which they operate.
• Evaluate the impact of policies for the economy, society and the natural environment.
• Enter a wide variety of employment opportunities in the public sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international organisations, research, consultancy and national/multinational firms. 

Students can expect to receive approximately 120 hours of contact time not including the dissertation.

Compulsory courses

(* half unit)  

• Environmental Regulation: Implementing Policy
• Environment and Development or Environment and Development: Sustainability, Technology and Business*  
• Dissertation

Options

Choose options to the value of one full unit or one and a half units, depending upon compulsory course choice, from the following:

• Climate Change: Science, Economics and Policy*
• Planning for Sustainable Cities*
• Global Environmental Governance*
• Economic Appraisal and Valuation* 
• Urban Environment*
• Policy-Making in the European Union*
• International Political Economy of the Environment
• International and European Environmental Law
• Regulation, Risk and Economic Life
• Risk and Governance: A Sociological Approach*

Alternatively, students may be allowed to take courses offered at LSE, subject to regulations and agreement of the programme director as well as the course managers. Note that not all the optional courses will be available every year.

Teaching is mainly through lectures and graduate level seminars. You will be assessed on a combination of unseen examinations and research essays. You will develop a detailed proposal for your dissertation on a topic in the field of environment, but of your own choosing and design. You will work on your own on the dissertation, with limited advice from a supervisor.