University Centre of the Westfjords
Master in Coastal Communities and Regional DevelopmentÍsafjörður, Iceland
DURATION
24 months
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
26 Aug 2025
TUITION FEES
ISK 150,000 / per course *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* ISK 150000 for EEA / ISK 300.000 non EEA students.
Key Summary
Introduction
Coastal Communities and Regional Development is an international, multidisciplinary master’s program on the development of rural and remote areas in the past and in the future. It focuses on coastal communities along the North Atlantic and the Arctic, although theoretical foundations might be found in other regions.
The program is specially built on the principle and practices of sociology, macroeconomics, and geography/planning. By the end of the program, students understand the changes and challenges of coastal communities' development and have versed themselves in methods and skills to predict their development and manage it. The language of teaching and general communication is English. The program is offered by the University Centre of the Westfjords in Iceland in co-operation with the University of Akureyri. Teaching takes place in Ísafjörður.
Admissions
Curriculum
The program consists of 120 ECTS at the master’s level; this includes 75 ECTS in the form of courses and 45 ECTS in the form of a thesis. All courses are taught in modules. The program starts in the autumn semester and the first year is made up of core courses and elective courses.
In order to complete 75 ECTS in one academic year, courses are taught in intensive modules from August through July of the next year. Courses are weighted from 1 ECTS to 8 ECTS and range from half a week to four weeks in length. Each ECTS is expected to involve approximately 25-30 hours of student work. On average students take 2 ECTS a week which corresponds to no less than a 50-hour workload per week.
After the courses finish, at the end of June/beginning of July, more of the students’ attention moves to the 45 ECTS thesis. According to the above work time calculation, the 45 ECTS should be equivalent to 1.5 semesters’ work. Students are free to choose whether or not they stay in the Westfjords to complete their theses.
These are submitted for marking and defense at the beginning of the spring semester the next year. In this manner, it is possible to complete the whole program in 18 months. No provision for a summer holiday is made, however, if this pace of study is chosen. It is also possible to submit theses in April and the program then takes 21 months.
While the program covers a wide arc of geographical and development-related areas students can specialize within this sphere through elective courses and with their choice of a topic for their thesis. Students are welcome to take elective courses at other universities, with the Master’s program committee's approval.