Sustainable Food and Natural Resources

Masters in Sustainable Food and Resources
A flexible Masters degree designed to develop a rigorous understanding of the impacts of environmental change on global and local food systems and the natural world. The programme draws on our expert staff and a wide selection of academics and specialist guest lecturers – people who have made exceptional contributions to environmental thinking and action.

Taught at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), which pioneered sustainability practice and theory in the UK, this MSc course integrates the social, political, economic and practical aspects of sustainable food and natural resources production, tackling these themes through a combination of academic study, discussion and hands-on practical work.

We give our MSc students the knowledge, skills and experience needed to develop a career in the environmental sector and make an impact and on the course you will examine the transformational responses to the pervasive effects that economic structures and environmental change are having on diet, health, sustainability and community empowerment. The course will also cover globalisation, corporate and economic control, increasing global population and the effects of industry-scale agriculture and materials production on ecosystems and our environment.

How is the course taught?
Our MSc programme is taught either by distance learning or through residential blocks in one of the most innovative environmental buildings in the UK, or via a mixture of the two.

What qualification will you receive?
Successful completion of the programme MSc Sustainable Food and Natural Resources at the Centre for Alternative Technology leads to the award of Master of Science (MSc) by LJMU. The programme is also available to study as a Postgraduate Certificate and as a Postgraduate Diploma. This course is created and delivered by CAT and validated by LJMU.

Modules include
Introduction to Sustainability and Adaptation
Sustainability and Adaptation Concepts in Practice
Food Systems and Sustainability
Sustainable Food Production: Techniques and Practices
Ecosystem and Ecosystem Services
Introduction to Politics and Economics of the Environment
Theories of Social and System Change
Cities and Communities
Restoration Ecology
Sustainable Materials in the Built Environment
Work-based Project
Applied Research Design
MSc Dissertation

Why study at CAT?
Studying at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is a truly unique experience. For over 50 years CAT has been at the forefront of the environmental movement, pioneering low-carbon living and renewable technology. At the Graduate School of the Environment (GSE), students benefit from our extensive practical and academic knowledge, graduating with the skills needed to become leading players in the sustainability sector. Find out more about our facilities here.

Hands-on, flexible and immersive learning
At CAT, hands-on practical learning takes place side by side with academic study, group work and lectures during residential on-site block learning weeks taught at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), an immersive learning environment. Nestled in a disused slate quarry on the edge of the Eryri National Park, CAT is a living laboratory for practical, sustainable solutions. It contains some of the most innovative and renowned environmentally conscious buildings in the country, as well as one of the most diverse range of installed renewable technologies, on site water and sewage treatment, sustainably managed woodland and acres of organic gardens. It is a flexible degree with a choice of modules, each 8 weeks long, taken over one year or two – meaning the degree can be part time. It is a masters degree designed to give you the best possible experience whilst also meshing neatly with the pressures of modern professional and family life.

Is this the course for you?
Interested in studying this course? Join us for our next open day or contact us.