Global Development and Environment

More of the world's extreme poor now live in middle-income than in low-income countries, and processes such as climate change, transnational migration and globalisation demand a global consideration of the state of the planet.

Reflecting these trends, concepts of 'development' have evolved away from an understanding of something that takes place in the 'Third World' or 'Global South'.

Contemporary global challenges demand the linking of environmental issues to conventional foci of development (like health, urbanisation, poverty, food security and migration). They also demand an understanding of how the world's resources (such as water, energy, land, minerals, demography) are allocated and managed, and how contestations over these distributions play out.

In this Global Development and Environment program from University of Bristol you will develop the capacity to critically analyse the large-scale drivers of environmental consumption and stewardship, and how these interlink with and produce developmental outcomes. You will explore the relationship between international, environmental and developmental concerns and current socio-political events, from the COVID-19 pandemic to political and military tensions in Eastern Europe, or refugee crises in North Africa.

You will gain a perspective that is at once global and interdisciplinary while also paying attention to locality (place) and people's agency in forging a just and sustainable future.

Career prospects

Students completing this program typically go on to work in government, the non-profit sector, multilateral organisations and private companies including development and environmental consultancies. The intensive research training will also prepare you for further postgraduate study.

Courses included:

• Global Development and Environment: History, Theory, Practice

• Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography

• Practical Statistics for Use in Research and Policy

• Policy and Management Consultancy