MLA College - Education Beyond Borders
MSc Global Sustainable Development (Part-Time)
Plymouth, United Kingdom
MSc
DURATION
32 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 10,700
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
If you already hold a degree or have a background in sustainability, the MSc in Global Sustainable Development is a great distance learning course to take advantage of your previous experience and higher-level learning.
The course aims to:
- Provide a sound, and critical, understanding of sustainable development, particularly with reference to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- Show how sustainability is conceived and practiced differently across the globe.
- Show how sustainability is conceived and practiced differently across different sectors, and to critically evaluate how the UN SDGs interact with these sectors.
- Enable students to evaluate the role of individuals, communities, and institutions in delivering sustainable development.
- Foster debate and enable students to express reasoned, evidence-based arguments.
This Master’s degree is delivered through distance learning and starts with a period of gaining a shared vocabulary and set of ideas around sustainability. This leads to investigating the various ways in which we might interrogate and analyse sustainability projects through a range of research methodologies and their associated techniques.
The optional modules will be sector-specific, thus the MSc will investigate the sectoral responses to the sustainability challenge in greater depth. It shows that SDGs interact with a range of social and economic activities in a number of complicated and interconnected ways. This allows you to evaluate projects and progress against sustainability goals more critically.
The Programme finishes with a significant piece of individual research on a topic of your choice.
Compulsory Modules
- Debating Sustainability
- Researching Sustainability
Optional Modules
Choose 3 of 6
- Moving with the times: Using sport to address development goals
- A Cultural Lens on Sustainability
- Hungry for Change: Food and Sustainability
- Water’s Sustainable Future
- Developing Sustainable Energy
- Managing Waste for a Sustainable Future
Compulsory Module
- MSc Research Project
Whilst we deliver our programmes from a distance, that doesn’t mean we expect you to achieve everything without a friendly voice to guide you. Our expert team of academics are on hand to support you throughout your studies, whenever you need them the most.


