Master's Degree in Political Ecology Degrowth and Environmental Justice

This is the renewed 7th edition of the first Master's degrees in the fields of Political Ecology, Degrowth and Environmental justice. The Master's is co-organized by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and Research & Degrowth International (R&Di), bringing together the scholarly excellence of ICTA-UAB researchers with hands-on experience in activism and policy-making of R&DI’s networks. The Master's Coordination Team draws upon over fifteen years of successful organizational experience in international summer schools focused on environmental justice and degrowth. It leverages the ongoing European Research Council Synergy Project on Post-Growth (REAL), currently the largest degrowth-oriented initiative in Europe. Additionally, the teaching team benefits from a rich tradition of research and advocacy related to environmental justice at ICTA-UAB, which includes contributions such as the Atlas of Environmental Justice.

Our program is enriched by its Barcelona location, the capital of Catalonia. It is a city and country historically at the forefront of experimentation with the commons, social and solidarity cooperatives and community economies. We have developed close collaborations and partnerships with several civil groups and cooperatives in the city and its metropolitan region. We likewise benefit from having a network of 'living labs' in the Catalan countryside, where degrowth is practised and experienced in a rural setting. The content of the Master's degree is designed to respond to the current era of unfolding ecological breakdown and the interrelated crises of growing inequalities, poverty and environmental disasters. The common root of these crises is the growth imperative of capitalist economies or risk collapse.

The Master's provides a holistic understanding of environmental and social problems as inter-connected and linked to the uneven distributionof power under capitalism, requiring profound systemic change. This program aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools to think critically and to bring forward such change effectively. We aspire to train the next generation of environmental justice activists, engaged civil servants, and entrepreneurs of the cooperative economy - those who will put into action the best ideas for creating a fair, enjoyable and ecologically sustainable society.

Our pedagogy is based on a combination of lecture-style, cooperative learning and hands-on experience. You will be asked to read and write academic texts and learn through field visits and engagement with grassroots initiatives focused on ecologically sound and socially fair transformative practices. Group work is meant to hone your teamwork skills and peer-to-peer competencies. Therefore, students will be asked to develop most of their assignments collaboratively.

Career opportunities

This is a “master propio” that does not lead to doctoral studies. It is addressed for people who want to work in:

- The Social and Solidarity Economy Entities
- Public administration, as for example Environmental and Cooperation Department
- Environmental Justice Organizations
- EnvironmentalThink-tanks
- Environmental Professional consultancies
- Cooperatives
- Community economies for ecological transformations

Internships

The curricular practices are optional and guide the student towards option B of the TFM.
The aim is to put concrete knowledge, theoretical concepts and methodologies into practice in one of the entities with which we have collaborated in previous editions:
- Ajuntament de Barcelona
- Barcelona Activa
- Ent: Environamental Innovation Serving Society
- Greenpeace
- Ecologistes en acció
- Debt Observatory in globaslisation
- Arquitectes sense fronteres
- IRMB
- Conceptwerk
- Ciutat invisible (Coopolis)
- Cooperativa integral catalana
- Pah/Ape
- Diputació de Barcelona
- Àrea de Participació Ajuntament
- Idra, Institut de Recerca Urbana de Barcelona
- Fem Procomun ccoperativa
- Lleialtat Santsenca
- Research and Degrowth International

Scholarships and financial aid

Check all the information on the possibilities for grants and scholarships in the page for UAB financial aids, grants and calls (https://www.uab.cat/web/financial-aids-grants-and-calls-1345808144576.html)

The Master's programme offers:
- 1 full-time scholarship (if at least 25 students enrol)
- 2 full-time scholarship (if at least 30 students enrol)

The scholarship covers the cost of tuition and will have a withholding of personal income tax (IRPF).

The criteria for allocating the scholarships are the following:
- Being a person from lower-middle-income countries
- Justify a personal trajectory as an activist in a socio-environmental conflict and/or submit a motivational letter that explains its personal interest in political ecology and degrowth

To apply for the scholarship it is necessary to apply to the program and be accepted. Once the student receives the admission notification, she/he must submit the following documents to: coordinacio.master.political.ecology@uab.cat
- A letter explaining the need for a scholarship
- Two letters of reference that confirm that students respect all the requirements mentioned above

Coordinating centres

Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambientales

Collaborating centres

Associació Recerca i Decreixement Barcelona
Can Decreix

Contact

Brenda Nistor

Additional information

https://master.degrowth.org/MASTERS-IN-POLITICAL-ECOLOGY/

More information