Master's Programme in Environmental Management and Policy (EMP)

How can environmental problems be assessed? How do companies and organisations work to prevent and solve environmental problems? How can different types of actors exert influence and control, and what policies and measures can we employ to drive positive change?

If you are interested in questions like these, this programme is for you. The International Master’s Programme in Environmental Management and Policy (EMP) enables graduates to inspire and drive change by developing their abilities to evaluate, design and implement management and policy responses to complex environmental challenges. 

Distinguished key features of the programme are: interdisciplinary learning, the international nature and practically applied studies, with dual focus on environmental policy and environmental management.

Programme outline 

First semester (autumn) 

In total 30 credits. The courses provide essentials for the coming parts of the programme and cover fundamentals of environmental science, business management, economics and technical systems. Courses are:

• Environmental Systems and the Anthropocene (5 credits)
• Fundamentals of Technical Systems (5 credits)
• Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and other approaches for environmental evaluations of products and services (5 credits)
• Fundamentals of Economics and Economic Valuation of Environmental Change (5 credits)
• Introduction to Business Management & Corporate Responsibility (5 credits)
• Introduction to Policy and Law (5 credits)

Second semester (spring)

In total 30 credits. From this semester, there is a departure from the traditional division of courses by subject and the courses instead fo­cus on problem areas as well as application of knowledge, involving projects with external organisations and individual research. Courses are:

• Industrial Environmental Management in Practice (7.5 credits)
• Sustainability-driven Strategies in Business (7.5 credits)
• Environmental Law and Policy in Practice (7.5 credits)
• Elective course: Environmental Management and Strategy in Practice – Business Consulting (7.5 credits)
• Elective course: Environmental Management and Policy in Practice – Internship (7.5 credits)

Third semester (autumn)

In total 30 credits. Courses are:

• Environmental Policy Analysis (7.5 credits)
• Capstone Client Project (12.5 credits)
• Interdisciplinary Research Design (10 credits)

Fourth semester (spring)

The semester contains one course: the Master Thesis, 30 credits.

Graduation

Graduation week with theses defenses takes place on campus in late May or early June.

Career prospects

The programme opens the door to a wide range of environment- and sustainability-focused careers on the international arena. Our more than 1000 IIIEE alumni have taken positions in industry, consultancy, government, EU bodies, NGOs and international organisations such as the UN, the World Bank and the OECD. Several graduates have continued as entrepreneurs, or have enrolled in PhD programmes and then pursued academic or business careers. In effect, our alumni are integrated into all relevant professional sectors related to sustainability. 

Read more about our alumni portraits here.

Please note! 

• From autumn 2026 the following courses will be replaced by one 15 credit course. The new course will be called Environmental and Technical Systems and Tools for Environmental Assessment (ETSEA)
  • Environmental Systems and the Anthropocene (5 credits)
  • Fundamentals of Technical Systems (5 credits)
  • Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and other approaches for environmental evaluations of products and services (5 credits)
• Up until 2017 the programme had a different outline, which is valid for students admitted up until 2017. Click here to view the old outline.

Read more about the EMP programme