Global Sustainable Development with Placement Year
Global sustainable development addresses one of the defining challenges of our time: how human societies can meet the needs of growing populations and rising expectations while remaining within the ecological limits of the planet. It draws on economics, political science, geography, social science and environmental studies to examine the interrelationships between poverty, inequality, environmental change, governance and the patterns of production and consumption that drive both human progress and environmental degradation. The discipline is fundamentally concerned with the long-term viability of human life on Earth and the policies and practices that can secure it.
At Reading, this four-year programme includes a placement year, giving you the chance to work with an organisation, whether a development agency, NGO, government body, research institution or private sector company, that is grappling directly with questions of sustainable development. You will study development theory, environmental economics, climate policy, natural resource management, international trade and investment, governance and the social dimensions of sustainability. Reading's research strengths in agriculture, environment and international development inform the teaching, and the programme's interdisciplinary breadth equips you to think across the boundaries that separate academic disciplines while practitioners in the field routinely cross them.
The typical entry tariff is 120 UCAS points.
Graduates work in international development organisations, environmental NGOs, government agencies, policy research institutions, sustainability consultancies, corporate social responsibility functions, multilateral bodies and academic research. The placement year experience strengthens your professional readiness and your ability to connect academic frameworks to real-world practice. Many graduates also continue to postgraduate study in development studies, environmental policy, international relations or sustainability management.