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The University of Southampton
Geography and Environmental Science

Sustainable Environmental Management Pathway

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" - Chief Seattle

We all depend on business and industry to support the way we live... energy, water and food come to us via the corporate sector. Most of the things we use every day depend on natural resources; smartphones or computers; cars, buses or bicycles; the food we eat; the clothes we wear. Can businesses be environmentally accountable? Can humankind achieve sustainable development which can secure resources for future generations?

Students taking this pathway learn how scientific principles, theories and methods can be applied to resolve environmental problems in sustainable ways.

The pathway focuses, in particular, on the applications of environmental science theory and its translation into different management approaches. This pathway has a strong vocational element that draws on the biological sciences, geography, geology, oceanography, engineering and law. Students develop specialist skills in a whole range of areas such as sustainability, resource management, conservation, land use and planning, environmental management and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Year 1

Core Programme Modules (on all pathways)

Environmental Science: Concepts and Communication

Environmental Science: Research and Applications  (field/practical module)

Quantitative Methods

Environmental Field Techniques and Applications (residential field course)

Compulsory pathway modules

Earth and ocean systems

Earth Systems

Dynamic Landscapes

Ecology & Evolution

Year 2

Core Programme Modules (on all pathways)

Environmental Pollution

Environmental Impact Assessment

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Environmental Scientists

Environment and Sustainability

Pathway compulsory module

Geohazards and earth resources

Optional modules

Global climate change: science, impacts and policy

Introduction to energy in the environment

Pure and applied population ecology

Population and Reproductive Health

Population in developing societies

Quaternary environmental change

Remote sensing for earth observation

Evolution

Freshwater ecosystems

Business skills for employability

Management of risk and uncertainty

Environmental Instrumentation

Year 3

Core Programme Modules (on all pathways)

Environmental Law and Management

Environmental Field Studies (MEnvSci Only)

Individual Project (BSc only)

Advanced Quantitative Methods (MEnvSci only)

Compulsory pathway module

Sustainable resource management

Optional modules

Global change biology

Applied ecology

Environmental and Engineering Geology

Teaching and Communication and the UG Ambassador Scheme

Complex socio-ecological systems

Environmental field studies

Advanced Quantitative Methods

Water & Wastewater Engineering 1

The Sustainability Professional

Adapting to Climate Change and Weather Hazards

Air Quality and Environmental Pollution

Year 4 (MEnvSci only)

Core Programme Modules (on all pathways)

Advanced Research Project

Work Based Learning (work placement)

Pathway core module

Environmental Management Systems

Optional modules

Freshwater ecosystems

Transport, Energy and the Environment

Energy resources and engineering

Waste resource management

Environmental radioactivity and radiochemistry

Global climate cycles

Modelling Coastal Processes

Coastal and maritime engineering and energy

Water and wastewater engineering 2

Energy Performance Assessment of Buildings

Water Resources Planning and Management

Photo of Ed  Cremin
I've worked on reducing the environmental impact of major award winning projects in the Middle East, the length and breadth of Britain and I can't help but think the University of Southampton might have had a little something to do with it!
Ed  Cremin , BSc Environmental Sciences
Photo of Lucy Aldrich Smith
I recently started up my own business, Big Green Plan, which specialises in corporate responsibility and sustainable communications in small and medium sized businesses. Big Green Plan was the Winner of a Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award.
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