MSc Environmental Assessment and Management (Part time)

There has been a rapid growth in Environmental Assessment (EA) requirements around the world, at both project and strategic levels, which has generated a need for additional personnel. In Europe thousands of environmental assessments are carried out annually, and new legislation has placed obligations on many organisations to carry out strategic environmental assessments of their plans and programmes without the trained personnel to do so.

EA places demands upon those involved in both planning and authorising development proposals. Scientists must use their technical expertise to provide inputs into EAs; lawyers must establish and operate the procedures; developers must formulate their proposals within the legislative framework; agencies must review the adequacy of EAs; and decision makers must learn how to respond to the increased breadth and depth of information on potential impacts.

The focus of environmental assessment has shifted from the project level, where the implications of individual project proposals are assessed, to the strategic level, where the implications of policies, plans and programmes are assessed. Strategic EA Practice varies around the world and at different levels of decision making. Some jurisdictions focus on environmental aspects only, whereas others undertake sustainability appraisal which balances the environmental impacts alongside social and economic (including health) impacts. Whatever the focus, there is a need to establish groundrules for the scope of the assessment, and a need to apply suitable assessment methods to fully understand the potential outcomes of policy, plan or programme development.