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Lead sustainable development implementation and research
This Master’s Programme is focused on core questions of achieving sustainable development within the context and constraints of the global challenges of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and ecosystems, and climate change in relation to human well-being and planetary health across the rural–urban continuum. It covers the following set of themes:
This Master’s Programme will enable scholars and practitioners to gain a thorough grounding in all dimensions of sustainability science and practice, with an emphasis on diverse human settlements in the Global South from the semi-wild to mega-cities and the social–ecological–technological systems they are part of. It will enable students to explore and design innovative, evidence-based approaches and solutions for the sustainable management of social-ecological systems to achieve ecological, food, and water security in a changing climate and environment.
This Master’s Programme is rooted in theory and practical knowledge enhanced through experiential learning, case studies, and practice, along with the use of cutting-edge tools and methods including qualitative, quantitative, geospatial, and mixed methods. The Programme will equip scholars and practitioners with knowledge of interdisciplinary development pathways that balance environmental sustainability and conservation with equity, social justice, and inclusive economic development at all spatial and temporal scales of management and governance.
The Master of Science in Sustainability Science and Practice is a two-year, interdisciplinary, full-time degree programme. Each academic year consists of three terms of around 11–13 weeks each.
Core Courses are undertaken in the first year, where an interdisciplinary foundation situates sustainable development within broader contexts of economy, society, infrastructure, and governance, and the constraints of environmental and planetary boundaries, and sustainable development goals.
The second year is composed of Elective Courses that allow learners to concentrate in different sectors within sustainability science and the environment, ranging from biodiversity, ecosystem services, water, food, and agriculture to the circular economy. The second year ends with an independent internship, project and/or dissertation.
Foundation Courses focused on holistic and integral personal development, run through both years. It is this framing of Foundation, Core, and Elective Courses that allows the University to pedagogically achieve interdisciplinary knowledge in a transformative manner.
The Foundation Courses are a set of learning experiences, interactions, and credit courses grounded in Indian culture and experiential contexts including local and traditional knowledge. These will help build a set of personal and professional capacities through experiential learning outside conventional classroom settings and enable the learner to imbibe a set of sensibilities and capacities grounded in the values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
Foundation Courses facilitate holistic human development and integral learning engagement with the importance of being situated, committed, and empathetic while handling situations outside one’s comfort zone and dealing with situations of conflict underscored. Some of the skills, abilities, and sensibilities that learners will be exposed to include Physical Culture, Art and Labour; Nature and Environment; Self-Awareness and Reflection; and Philosophical Orientation and Ethics.
Year 1, Terms 1 and 2: In the first two terms, learners take three kinds of Core Courses that are required for all Master’s programmes at the University. These are Core Theory Courses, Core Methods Courses, and Core Practica. These courses lay an interdisciplinary foundation across a set of urban systems and help learners see the process of urbanisation through social, economic, spatial, governance, infrastructural, and ecological lenses. They also establish competency in core skills and methods, including qualitative, quantitative, geospatial, and mixed methods; and expose learners to place- and field-based applied learning.
Core Practica is a field-based applied learning course, where theoretical concepts learnt in the classrooms are applied on field through learning-by-doing. Based in neighbourhoods of Bengaluru, learners first learn how to observe, document, and analyse different aspects of an urban neighbourhood. They then move to propositions, suggesting solutions to problems they observe and identify.
Year 1, Term 3: Learners start specialising in specific themes of this programme in the third term. Through a set of required courses, the term introduces learners to the canonical and foundational texts in the field of sustainability science and practice, sustainable development, and ecology and ecosystems science.
Year 2, Terms 4 and 5: Learners choose from various interdisciplinary Elective Courses offered in this programme and continue hands-on learning in labs. These allow in-depth learning in sustainability science across sectors such as blue–green–grey infrastructure, food and agriculture systems, built environment, the circular economy, financing, green enterprises, policy, and governance. Learners may also take up to two Elective Courses from other Master’s programmes offered by the University. They will also pursue skill enhancement Elective Courses rooted in sustainability and environmental science, and more inter-sectoral skills, methods, and practices.
Year 2, Term 6: This term is focused on learning through doing. Through an external internship with an organisation working in sustainable development, learners will apply what they have learnt and transition into employment pathways. Learners can also choose to be part of IIHS teams working on ongoing projects and/or do independent research dissertations, mentored by faculty.
The Master of Science in Sustainability Science and Practice programme welcomes candidates from diverse academic and professional backgrounds who are passionate about sustainability and environmental science. The Programme will equip them with the tools to study and create impactful, just, and scalable solutions for a more sustainable future.
Graduates of the Master of Science in Sustainability Science and Practice will have a wide range of career options:
