Global Environment, Politics and Society

The Global Environment, Politics and Society (GEPS) programme offers interdisciplinary exploration and immersion in social scientific inquiry used to understand and address environmental issues.

You will have flexibility to design the programme to your interests, and can take many methodological, disciplinary, and integrative approaches.

The core coursework focuses on the following:

* environmental politics

* environmental sociology

* normative philosophy

You can also engage with a range of other social science disciplines by taking courses from fields across the University.

Understanding issues such as climate change, sustainable development and biodiversity requires knowledge about the political, moral and societal dimensions of environmental problems and solutions. This programme provides a social science-based, practice-oriented exploration of these global environmental challenges and solutions.

On the GEPS programme, you will develop the knowledge and analytical tools to address questions such as:

* Are meaningful environmental agreements possible in a system of sovereign states?

* Is the environment more than an economic resource for human exploitation?

* What drives groups, individuals or institutions to take action on environmental issues?

* What is the effect of such mobilisation?

* What does environmental justice look like and to what extent is it achievable, and how?

You can also take advantage of the many climate and sustainability activities offered by the University's Social Responsibility and Sustainability Department and New Earth Initiative.

While we broadly focus on social sciences, which can stretch beyond the disciplines listed above, this programme does not focus on economics, business, or finance. There are other strong programmes in these areas at the University of Edinburgh.

More programme details

You can find more details about this programme, including student testimonials and suggested reading recommendations, on the programme webpage.