Environmental Policy, Strategy & Leadership

Societies, governments, and businesses across the globe are faced with increasingly complex environmental challenges, in areas such as climate change, adaptation and local environmental quality in our cities and regions. The UCD MSc Environmental Policy, Strategy & Leadership arms graduates with the capacity to develop environmental policy choices, analyse them critically, and provide guidance in regard to their implementation and evaluation. The programme introduces graduates to research-based economic and environmental tools and insights to enable graduates to be effective change management leaders and management leaders and environmental and sustainability experts in both the public and private sectors.



UCD Environmental Policy has an established international track record as a leading research centre in environmental policy and is in the Top 150 QS World University Rankings by subject area. Students may also choose to undertake either a thesis, an internship, or an academic research project during the Summer trimester.



Also, for professionals who want to balance their passion for the environment while advancing their career, this programme is offered as a two-year part-time degree (T432). The part-time program is scheduled to be completed over two years with one or two modules (10 credits per module) per semester. Part-time students join the full-time students for the classes and hence can meet two cohorts of the full-time MSc programme.

Stage 1 Core Modules

ENVP40040 Sustainability Lab 10

ENVP40100 Environmental & Behavioural Economics 10

ENVP40170 Evidence-based Decisions & Communication 10

ENVP40180 European Environmental Policy 10

ENVP40190 Applications of Environmental Policy & Regulation 10

ENVP40240 Sustainable Corporate Strategy 10



Stage 1 Options - A)1 of:

ALL students MUST initially select the module ENVP40030 Environmental Policy Thesis. During the Autumn Trimester, those students interested in pursuing an Internship will be expected to prepare their CV and seek Professional Work Experience opportunities from prospective employers under the guidance of the Internship Module Coordinator and the Programme Director. In the event that a student is successful in securing a suitable Professional Work Experience placement, subject to gaining approval of the Internship Module Coordinator, the student will be re-registered to ENVP40160 Internship - Research Project by the Programme Office.



ENVP40030 Environmental Policy Thesis 30

ENVP40160 Internship - Research Project 30

This programme is intended for applicants with a degree in any discipline, such as social sciences and arts, environmental sciences, law, business studies or engineering.



An honours undergraduate degree (NFQ Level 8) with a minimum upper second class honours or international equivalence is required.



Applicants whose first language is not English must also demonstrate English language proficiency of IELTS 6.5 (no band less than 6.0 in each element), or equivalent.

Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the English language requirements may enter the programme upon successful completion of UCD’s Pre-Sessional or International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information http://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/



You may be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), as UCD recognises formal, informal, and/or experiential learning. RPL may be awarded to gain Admission and/or credit exemptions on a programme. Please visit the UCD Registry RPL web page for further information. Any exceptions are also listed on this webpage. https://www.ucd.ie/registry/prospectivestudents/admissions/rpl/

Apply online



Who Should Apply?

Full Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EU) applicants: Yes



Part Time option suitable for:

Domestic(EEA) applicants: Yes

International (Non EEA) applicants: No

1 year full-time,

2 years part-time.

Delivery: On Campus

T431 MSc in Environmental Policy, Strategy & Leadership (Master of Science) Full-Time

Commencing September 2026

Graduate Taught



T432 MSc in Environmental Policy, Strategy & Leadership (Master of Science) Part-Time

Commencing September 2026

Graduate Taught

Career & Graduate Study Opportunities

To date, our graduates have been very successful in gaining employment in environment-related fields in a diverse range of public, private and NGO organisations. Past graduates are now working for a number of agencies both nationally and internationally including private (e.g. Samsung Electronics; Wisetek; Citi Bank; AWN Consulting; EnvEcon; Irish Water), public bodies (e.g. Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs) and NGO organisations (e.g. Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice; Plant life Economy Foundation; Amazon Environmental Research Institute Brazil; publicpolicy.ie; Global Action plan Ireland), in a range of environmental positions (e.g. environmental consultants; policy officers; researchers; climate officers; environmental justice officers). Our graduates have also gone on to pursue further study (PhDs).