Energy, Environment and Society - Master's Degree Programme

Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and the possible transition towards a low carbon society trigger political conflicts within the nations and across the globe. What does the concept of sustainable energy really include? How do the challenges regarding new energy systems affect a society?

This Master programme takes the Paris Agreement (climate change) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the point of departure. The programme focuses on the challenges associated with the realization of these goals, with a special emphasis on energy. Energy and its associated environmental challenges present tremendous challenges for both nations and the international community. Energy systems across the globe are transitioning - or about to transition - towards lower carbon and more sustainable energy configurations. At the same time, debates about what constitutes sustainable energy policy have intensified in most countries, with political conflicts over the true meaning of concepts such as sustainable energy, low carbon transition, and with different and competing visions about the future energy mix and future energy system.

These political controversies constitute the core of this Master study. It raises the fundamental question what sustainable energy might be and what a low carbon transition might look like from different perspectives. The program gives students an overview into energy specific challenges, environmental challenges associated with energy (e.g. climate change, water resources deterioration, competition for land, etc.), and explores the different actors, interests, perceptions and drivers of a possible transition towards a low carbon society in diverse contexts. It encompasses the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development.