Environmental Policy
In this thesis track, offered by the Environmental Policy Group (ENP), you contribute to sustainable development by developing the theoretical and empirical tools to analyse, evaluate and (help) design democratic processes of environmental reform from the local up to the global level.
More about this thesis track
Analysing and designing (new) arrangements for urban environmental governance and management is at the center of the thesis track Environmental Policy which is built around three core themes:
- Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Sustainable Natural Resource Use
- Global Environmental Change
The aim of the thesis is to gain academic skills in analysing and evaluating urban environmental governance in one or more of the following aspects:
- Industrial development and environmental management in industry;
- Infrastructure management and innovation (related to drinking water, waste water, energy, transport or solid waste),
- Sustainable building and living
- Governance for sustainable cities and city networks
In addition to the listed themes, thesis subjects proposed by students themselves are very much appreciated.
Expertise
When analysing and designing (new) arrangements, we draw especially on sociology and on political sciences. Being social scientific in nature, the research program contains many projects that are conducted on a multidisciplinary basis, making use of the high quality technical and natural science expertise available in the Environmental Policy Group.
Challenges
The thesis track Environmental Policy of the programme Urban Environmental Management looks for answers to the following questions:
- What are the basic characteristics of environmental science and urban technology and what can be concluded with respect to their roles in bringing about transitions towards more sustainable cities and patterns of production and consumption?
- In what ways can environmental guidelines for urban production and consumption become institutionalised in the (international) policy networks?
- How can urban governance and policy-making for sustainable development be evaluated, adapted and transformed in order to meet the requirements of globalisation?
- In what ways do social groups – i.e. groups of citizen-consumers or environmental NGO’s – (fail to) confront the environmental and health risks implied in modern life?
- What policy arrangements are most suitable to help adopting an environmental perspective within everyday life?
Students can learn more about the education and research related to this discipline by visiting the website of the Environmental Policy Group.
Courses
The following courses are part of the programme Urban Environmental Management when selecting the thesis track Environmental Policy. Next to these thesis specific courses, you will follow courses from the common part and electives as summarised in the programme outline. For more information visit the study handbook or contact the study adviser.
Thesis track-related subjects
Compulsory
| Subject | Code |
|---|---|
| Governance for Sustainable Cities | ENP36806 |
| MSc Thesis Environmental Policy | ENP80436 |
| MSc Internship Environmental Policy | ENP70224 |
Restricted Optional: select at least two
| Subject | Code |
|---|---|
| Environmental Management and Industry | ENP20806 |
| Transformative Sustainability Practices for Systemic Change | ENP39406 |
| Sustainable Technology in Society | ENP36506 |
Restricted Optional: Select at least one
| Subject | Code |
|---|---|
| Planning for Urban Quality of Life | LUP23806 |
| Managing Urban Environ. Infrastructure | ETE32806 |
| Planning and Design of Urban Space | ETE33806 |
In order to prepare well for your thesis track, you can additionally choose supporting courses. These courses focus, for example, on quantitative and data sciences. You can find the exact list in the study handbook at the section "Restricted Optionals (2) in Common part"
This course overview is based on the Wageningen University study handbook, where you can find a more detailed course and programme description. The study handbook is guiding in case of any discrepancy.
Below you can see an example how your schedule can look like when following this thesis track:
