Sustainable Development

The Master's degree in Sustainable Development offered by the University Centre for Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (UCBS) is a second cycle, full-time academic program taught in English. The program is designed to meet the challenge of rethinking the development model of societies worldwide and to lay the foundations for a more sustainable, positive, and equitable future. The program offers an interdisciplinary approach that requires interlinkages between different fields of research, shared commitment to scientific and educational potential, and deeper collaboration with the environment.

The educational process of the program is organized based on a harmonious involvement under the chairmanship and involvement of the UCBS of eight units of the University of Warsaw. The following faculties of the University of Warsaw participate in the preparation of the program: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography and Regional Studies, Geology, Economic Sciences, Law and Administration, and the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. The program offers integrated knowledge and provides a broad but in-depth understanding in various areas of science. The aim of the program is to give insight into the complexity of sustainability challenges as well as the variety of available solutions. The knowledge, skills, and social competences passed during the studies support the shaping of an individual view of the world, building an open and critical attitude to the changing reality.

The program offers many competences and practical skills to help students start and function in a rapidly changing world. The experience from countries where sustainable development is more firmly anchored in governance and management shows that people who have completed such studies are among those who are positively perceived during their applications for important managerial and advisory positions.

The program does not close in one field/discipline but is implemented on the borderline between the fields of science and natural sciences and social sciences and the humanities, including biological, chemical, physical, earth and environment sciences, science, legal and social sciences, as well as classes in philosophy, social communication, and entrepreneurship.

The program's subjects are collected in modules, assigned to individual semesters during the two-year studies (four semesters). The first-semester subjects introduce issues of sustainable development from the environmental, economic, and socio-legal perspective. In the second semester, students become acquainted with the planning and management processes, as well as the use of raw materials and economic analysis in the implementation of sustainable development goals, both in cities and in rural areas. Students have the opportunity to choose classes according to their interests. Semester III offers an overview of the best practices and tools currently used to support sustainable development processes. Most of the classes this semester have the character of practical projects with the participation of practitioners and experts from outside the University of Warsaw. Semester IV is devoted to writing a master's thesis and is also done by a research field study in organizations and institutions selected in accordance with the subject of the work being carried out.

The program's interdisciplinarity of knowledge and diversity of didactic offers in the field of Sustainable Development allow students to obtain comprehensive academic education useful for various professions. Graduates of the program will be prepared to work in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, in international or national organizations, in research and analytical centers, particularly in institutions dealing with environmental monitoring, waste management, local and regional development, consulting companies, scientific and research and development institutions, and business. Overall, this program is an excellent choice for students who are passionate about sustainability and want to be at the forefront of creating a better world.