Northumbria’s MSc Economics and Sustainability is designed both for those who have a background in economics and wish to specialise, and for those who don’t have a background in economics but are interested in a career in environmental economics or a related area.

Studying economics together with sustainability and examining the impacts of one upon the other, is a new and exciting discipline, which has excellent employment prospects.

As countries and governments globally look to try and change the way we work and live, in order to address climate change, environmental economics is becoming more important within policy-making.

Northumbria’s MSc Economics and Sustainability will give you a thorough grounding in resource and environmental economics as well as cutting-edge training in economics and policies for sustainability and climate change.

In the second year, you will have an opportunity to undertake an Industry Consultancy Project allowing you to apply the knowledge and skills you have gained during your first year of study to a real-life industry issue from a range of employers. This authentic learning context ensures that you experience what it feels like to work within a team on a contemporary project that has real relevance and impact. Working to a client's brief, with academic supervision, you will advance your ability to apply theoretical concepts and research skills to produce a practical recommendation to a challenging problem.*

Demand is growing in the environmental sector for well-trained economics graduates, and our MSc Economics and Sustainability is specially designed to prepare students for specialist careers in government, international organisations, industry, NGOs and consultancy, in addition to the possibility of continuing on an academic path and pursuing a research career.

The course combines the very latest theory and sustainability strategies with contemporary economics, giving students the change to explore the fields of Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Econometrics and Environmental Economics.

As well as gaining a detailed understanding of economics and sustainability issues, you will learn how to apply theory to real world problems and graduate with a solid set of specialist and transferable skills which will set you apart.

Newcastle Business School is proud to be a member of the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) global compact. Through our membership of this organisation, the School commits to providing distinctive education for our students that is relevant to global sustainability challenges.

*Be aware that all Advanced Practice with investigative consultancy project routes are similar to many of our 1-Year MSc with consultancy project routes, while 2-year Advanced Practice course spends more dedicated time in the Business Clinic, reflected on the total assessment input for the two 60 credit modules.

This MSc Economics and Sustainability will focus on interactive and applied learning, helping you take learnings from key modules and apply them to real world situations.

You will study a mix of general and specialist economics modules on topics such as research methods and analytics, applied environmental economics, economics for sustainability, economic policies for the environment and an econometric modelling module which will help you formulate, test and apply formal economic models to real-life data.

You will also develop skills in communication, mathematics and computing achieving a range of transferable skills which are sought after by employers.

Should you wish to pursue further study, your programme can also serve as a stepping stone to a research degree in the field of economics.

When you join Newcastle Business School you will become part of a business school with a global reputation for delivering some of the best business courses in the UK.

We hold double accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in business and accounting – an international hallmark of excellence – in large part due to the exceptional quality of our staff.

The academic team have extensive experience in both research and industry, with specialisms including macroeconomics, microeconomics, finance and applied econometrics.

We incorporate our professional experience and ongoing research into the syllabus, to ensure you are up-to-date with current developments in a fast-changing and challenging field.

Our staff are actively pushing at the frontiers of knowledge and generating new concepts and insights. Over 40% of our publication outputs and 60% of our impact case studies have been assessed as internationally excellent or world leading.

When you join Newcastle Business School you will become part of a business school with a global reputation for delivering some of the best business courses in the UK.

We hold double accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in business and accounting – an international hallmark of excellence – in large part due to the exceptional quality of our staff.

The academic team have extensive experience in both research and industry, with specialisms including macroeconomics, microeconomics, finance and applied econometrics.

We incorporate our professional experience and ongoing research into the syllabus, to ensure you are up-to-date with current developments in a fast-changing and challenging field.

Our staff are actively pushing at the frontiers of knowledge and generating new concepts and insights. Over 40% of our publication outputs and 60% of our impact case studies have been assessed as internationally excellent or world leading.

From the postgraduate suite to seminar rooms, lecture theatres to social spaces, Newcastle Business School offers a fantastic learning environment.

The University has invested heavily in IT labs and facilities. You’ll use a variety of analytics software including STATA and Microsoft Excel.

Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) is embedded throughout the course with tools such as the ‘Blackboard’ eLearning Portal and electronic reading lists that will guide your preparation for seminars and independent research. Our use of lecture capture software will help you revise challenging material.

At Northumbria it’s easy to put your learning into practice. Opportunities for experiential learning are available through our Student Engagement Centre which promotes volunteering and placements. The Business Clinic enables our students to participate in a ‘consultancy firm’ to provide advice for our region’s businesses.

Newcastle Business School is a vibrant and research-rich school with responsible management firmly embedded as a theme which drives our curriculum and research strategies. We aim to incorporate issues of ethics, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, responsible leadership and management into your learning. We are dedicated to furthering the education of business leaders that recognise the challenges of sustainability and are equipped to innovate for a sustainable future.  

Our staff have research expertise in the areas of macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics and environmental economics.

Our strong history of applied research is closely linked to local industry as well as the public and voluntary sectors. This business relevant approach to teaching and learning has been developed to maximise your leadership, management and employability potential.

Throughout your course you’ll be an active participant in the on-going research agenda that’s at the heart of Newcastle Business School. With conferences and research events regularly taking place, and with staff discussing their own research as it relates to the topics you’ll study, there’s a strong emphasis on engaging in up-to-date enquiry-based research-rich learning.

Graduates of the MSc Economics and Sustainability will be perfectly prepared to pursue a wide range of careers in the field of environmental economics, as well as in economics, finance and related areas.

Potential job roles this programme could prepare students for include environmental economist, policy adviser, analyst, journalist, researcher or academic, and employers range from government, international organisations, industry, NGOs and consultancy.

As part of this course, you will build a portfolio of materials that can be presented to employers to demonstrate your development and appropriateness for roles in the fields of economics and sustainability, the content of which will be informed by the work you undertake in the modules you study.

This course is also ideal if you’re interested in a career in academic research, and successful graduates may be eligible for advanced entry onto our PhD or DBA programmes.

Whatever you decide to do, you will have the transferable skills that employers expect from a master’s graduate from Northumbria University. These include the ability to tackle complex issues through conceptualisation and undertaking research, the ability to contribute to new processes and knowledge, and the ability to formulate balanced judgements when considering incomplete or ambiguous data.