Global Sustainable Development

Global sustainable development is the field concerned with understanding and addressing the interconnected challenges of poverty, inequality, environmental degradation and climate change that define the most pressing questions of our time. It is genuinely interdisciplinary, drawing on politics, economics, sociology, environmental science and geography to analyse how development processes affect different communities and how alternative models can promote human wellbeing within ecological limits. The discipline takes social justice as its frame, asking not just how development can be accelerated but how it can be made more equitable and sustainable.

At the University of Sheffield this three-year full-time programme includes a foundation year, a sandwich year, a year abroad and embedded work placement opportunities. Sheffield's description of the programme captures its ambition: you will learn to understand emerging global challenges through the lens of social justice and environmental sustainability and gain the skills to apply strategies that create real-world impact. The multiple structural features of this degree mean you will engage with the subject not only academically but through direct experience in development organisations, policy settings and international contexts.

The year abroad and sandwich year are particularly significant in a field where the gap between academic knowledge and practical application is often stark, and where personal experience of different development contexts deepens your understanding immeasurably.

You will study international development theory, environmental politics, global governance, sustainability science, research methods and the policy and advocacy dimensions of development work.

Graduates pursue careers in NGOs, international development agencies such as the UN and its bodies, government departments, sustainability consultancies, think tanks and policy research organisations. Some move into corporate social responsibility, environmental management or international project management. Many go on to postgraduate study in international development, environmental policy or related fields.