Global Sustainable Development (Taught)

Our innovative MASc in Global Sustainable Development is a unique opportunity to join a community of transdisciplinary experts and practitioners with a passion for research and teaching. On this flexible course you will combine academic learning with practical action and applied thinking to tackle problems of global sustainable development.

Course overview
In Global Sustainable Development (GSD) we take a critical approach to the dominant discourse of sustainable development. We are committed to understanding as well as challenging existing practice, and want you to join us, as we seek innovative, transformative responses to complex global challenges. Based in the School for Cross-faculty StudiesLink opens in a new window, our academic home is a natural place for future transdisciplinary leaders to flourish.

On this course you will work with Warwick’s GSD DepartmentLink opens in a new window, the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD)Link opens in a new window, and partner departments across the University. Our staff are at the forefront of their fields and share your passion for global sustainable development.

Core modules will support your development as an intellectual leader dedicated to bringing about positive change. They will help to deepen your understanding of the core global challenges we face, and develop your critical and reflective approach, as well as your technical and methodological skills. Your learning will be rooted in critical intellectual enquiry and philosophical understanding, which will support your personal development as a leader of thought and action. In addition, by having a broad range of optional modules and flexible capstone project options, you can tailor the course to your own areas of interest.

In Term Three and the summer, you will have an exciting opportunity to ‘learn by doing’ as you undertake a transdisciplinary capstone project. We will offer you a choice of research, practice, and work-based experiences. Your chosen project will enable you to develop a skillset and expertise most suited to your future career goals.

By the end of this course, you will be equipped to play an authentic, ethically-grounded and reflective role in global citizenship. You will also have a defined understanding of what is necessary to act as a leader of positive change. The route you choose upon graduation will be defined by your own interests and aspirations. Your learning from the course will equip you with what you need for a career in applied research, in policy, business, or in third sector activity.

Skills from this degree
You will learn to:

• Think systemically, recognising connections and interactions between factors, and understand that actions often have many consequences

• Identify and analyse the risk that system complexity can lead to unexpected and novel outcomes, and contribute to the proactive management of this

• Describe complex issues in clear terms and communicate about them effectively and succinctly, both verbally and in writing

• Work naturally and consciously, as part of a community of practice, by learning from others in a culture of respect, mutual understanding and empathy, and managing disagreement and conflict through socially non-violent means, even in the context of formal power hierarchies

• Support and foster intellectual leadership by challenging assumptions, critically analysing information and negotiating alternatives to current practices

• Create new and personal knowledge in GSD both through research and self-managed learning

This information is applicable for 2026 entry. Given the interval between the publication of courses and enrolment, some of the information may change. It is important to check our website before you apply.

Core modules

Term One

• Leading Transformation in the Anthropocene
• Creating Knowledge for Change: Foundations of Transdisciplinary Research
• Global Challenges and Transdisciplinary Responses

Term Two
You will be required to take at least two of the following optional core modules:

• Qualitative Approaches to Sustainable Development
• Quantitative Approaches to Sustainable Development
• Policy, Governance and Sustainable Development

Term Three and summer
You will select one of our transdisciplinary capstone projects:

• Workplace Project
• Practice-based Project
• Research Project

Optional modules
The number of optional modules you take will vary depending on how many of the above optional core modules you select. Your optional modules will be offered by the GSD Department and partner departments and you will have the opportunity to specialise in thematic learning. Optional modules could include:

Care-ful Sustainability: Place, Culture and Value
Critical Perspectives on Business and Global Sustainable Development
Popular Movements and Sustainable Change
Sustainable Urbanisation: from Risk to Resilience
Health and well-being across the life course
Dimensions of the Climate Crisis
Taboo Topics: Unpicking the Silences behind Global Challenges
Climate Change and Development
Socially Engaged Performance: Interventions and Provocations
Resource Fictions: Studies in World Literature
World Literature in the Anthropocene
Urban Resilience, Disaster and Data
Habitability in the Universe
Thinking Water
Education for Sustainable Development
Design Thinking for Social Impact
Public Engagement

Please note, optional modules are subject to availability and offerings may change each year to keep your learning experience current and up-to-date. You will also need to discuss your optional module choices with your personal tutor and receive approval from the Director of Graduate Studies in GSD. Other optional modules may be available across other departments.

Read more about our optional modules on the GSD website

The core modules on this course will be assessed in a variety of ways including essays, presentations, and research project plans. The assessments are designed to help you develop the skills for research, analysis, and communicating your work with others. For example, you will have opportunities to write articles and prepare a short documentary communicating scientific research to wider audiences.

All assessments in modules offered by the School for Cross-faculty Studies link to practical applications.