University of East Anglia (UEA), MSc, Environmental Assessment and Management

There has been a rapid growth in Environmental Assessment (EA) requirements around the world, at both project and strategic levels, which has generated a need for additional personnel. In Europe thousands of environmental assessments are carried out annually, and new legislation has placed obligations on many organisations to carry out strategic environmental assessments of their plans and programmes without the trained personnel to do so.

EA places demands upon those involved in both planning and authorising development proposals. Scientists must use their technical expertise to provide inputs into EAs; lawyers must establish and operate the procedures; developers must formulate their proposals within the legislative framework; agencies must review the adequacy of EAs; and decision makers must learn how to respond to the increased breadth and depth of information on potential impacts.

The focus of environmental assessment has shifted from the project level, where the implications of individual project proposals are assessed, to the strategic level, where the implications of policies, plans and programmes are assessed. Strategic EA Practice varies around the world and at different levels of decision making. Some jurisdictions focus on environmental aspects only, whereas others undertake sustainability appraisal which balances the environmental impacts alongside social and economic (including health) impacts. Whatever the focus, there is a need to establish groundrules for the scope of the assessment, and a need to apply suitable assessment methods to fully understand the potential outcomes of policy, plan or programme development.

To meet the demand for skilled personnel in these areas, this is a vocational course designed to provide a rigorous and professional training in the broad range of skills required. It combines theory, much of which has been developed by internationally renowned staff based in the School, with practice through collaboration with local businesses.

Recent Dissertation Titles

• Waste management in offices: a case study of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital
• An evaluation of perceptions of barriers to the utilisation of crop biomass as a source of renewable energy
• Determining significance in environmental impact assessment: A review of impacts upon the socio-economic and water environments

Why choose MSc Environmental Assessment and Management?

• Our research has been ranked first for impact in the Time Higher Education REF league tables.
• 88% of research activity classified as world-leading or internationally excellent in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework.
• Teaching of the highest quality; rated “ Excellent” in the most recent Teaching Quality Assessment.
• With 62 faculty members, the School is the largest interdisciplinary Environmental Science department in the UK.
• Extensive recent investment in buildings and laboratories provide excellent facilities for research.
• A large community of researchers, including more than 150 research students, 72 research staff and 27 technicians.
• “The School of Environmental Sciences is the strongest in the world” Prof Sir David King, UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, 2005.