Collaborative programmes with Scotland's Rural College

These programmes are delivered in collaboration with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

You will not only benefit from being a fully matriculated student at the University of Edinburgh, but also access to all of the complementary staff, expertise, and resources at SRUC. 

Upon successful completion of the programme, you will be awarded your degree by the University of Edinburgh.

From the biodiversity crisis and the climate crisis to the question of managing economies during a global pandemic - the topic of sustainability has never been more pressing.

The MSc Ecological Economics prepares you to contribute to solving sustainability problems. You will learn how to integrate environmental, social, and economic systems together, focusing on the mutual dependencies between them. In short, this programme aims to equip you with a new way of seeing the world.

During your studies, you will implement a small, team-based research project. Designed collaboratively with staff members in response to a real-world sustainability problem, it will provide you with first-hand experience conducting the work of an ecological economist.

Access to good and healthy food is a basic human right.

However, in 2023, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that about 28.9% of the global population was food insecure. Since 2019, the prevalence of food insecurity has increased globally. Several challenges are generating this complex situation, such as:

• food access and affordability
• food availability and utilisation
• climate shocks
• finite resources
• political crises

This MSc programme explores important issues related to food security. It is designed to specifically address the social and economic aspects of food security, such as the intersection of food production, distribution, consumption, agriculture, environment, nutrition-related policies, and human behaviour.

Your chance to play a vital role in protecting and conserving the environment starts here.

We continue to have a significant impact on our planet through actions such as:

• the use of natural resources
• deforestation
• soil erosion
• the release of pollutants and pathogens
• invasive species

These are the result of human behaviour and are all examples of pressures that have potentially severe consequences for humanity and other life on Earth.

The MSc Environmental Protection and Management will give you an in-depth understanding of natural resource management based on a scientific understanding of the issues involved. It also offers you the opportunity to explore these same issues from the perspective of other disciplines, creating a multi-faceted understanding of issues related to natural resource management.

Soil systems are a vital, non-renewable resource. They provide multiple ecosystem services and are an essential component of food production and food security globally. They are crucial in supporting delivery of services such as flood management, resilience to environmental change, and are a source of goods for infrastructure and development together with supporting a vast array of biodiversity both above and below ground.

There is global recognition of the significant and increasing pressure that soils are under, requirement for urgent action needed for sustainable soil and land management has gained increasing international attention in recent years due to both the global climate and biodiversity crisis.

Our Soils and Sustainability MSc has been developed in collaboration with industry and is an interdisciplinary programme, providing you with the essential knowledge and advanced skills to make informed decisions on sustainable land practice and soil management to help tackle some of the pressures on soils and contribute to enhancing resilience in future.