Environment and Sustainability
The relationship between human activity and the natural environment has never been more urgent or more contested. Environmental science provides the rigorous empirical foundation needed to understand what is happening to ecosystems, soils, water systems and the atmosphere, while sustainability thinking asks how human societies can meet their needs without compromising the capacity of natural systems to support future generations. At the Royal Agricultural University, this three-year full-time programme brings those two perspectives together, rooted in a setting where the connections between land use, food production and environmental outcomes are especially direct.
You will develop knowledge across the core areas of environmental science, including ecology, soil science, hydrology, climate science and land management, and you will engage with the sustainability frameworks and policy debates that shape how environmental challenges are addressed in practice. The programme draws on the University's particular expertise in land-based industries, agriculture and rural management, giving you a distinctive angle on environmental and sustainability questions that is grounded in real-world resource use. You will develop quantitative and fieldwork skills alongside the ability to interpret evidence and communicate findings to different audiences, capacities that are directly relevant to professional work in this field.
Graduates of this programme are well prepared for careers across the environmental and sustainability sectors. Environmental consultancy, conservation management, land management, sustainability roles in the corporate sector and careers in environmental regulation and planning are all common destinations. The agricultural and rural dimension of the programme also opens routes into natural capital assessment, agri-environment scheme delivery and work with farming organisations and rural partnerships.
Postgraduate study in environmental science, rural land management, conservation or sustainability is a natural progression for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or move into research.