MSc in Net Zero Communities
Online
DURATION
1 up to 4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Jan 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,990 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
* Scottish: £5,256 | Rest of UK: £7,020 | International: £9,990
Introduction
What is special about this course?
Communities have a key role to play in the development of a net-zero society. Are you keen to discover more about how renewable energy production can play a central role in community development? Do you want to be at the center of and leading these developments?
In May 2019, the Committee on Climate Change recommended that the UK should aim to be net zero on all greenhouse gases by 2050. A U.N-backed global campaign, the 'Race to Zero', which launched in June 2020, brings together businesses, cities, and other organizations that aim to cut their planet-heating emissions to net zero by around mid-century, meaning they produce no more emissions than they can offset through different measures. Several community groups have emerged to develop local solutions that help to meet this target. Communities will be at the center and forefront of the new energy transition.
This MSc Net Zero Communities* will enable you to take the lead and be the change in the new energy transition. You will be taught by recognized experts and supported by guest lectures from both industry and community fields. You can be confident you will graduate armed with the most up-to-date information and the highest quality skills.
The course is designed to provide opportunities for both recent graduates and mature students working in relevant professions, industries, agencies, or the voluntary sector to advance or update learning in sustainability issues, with a particular focus on providing net-zero solutions for communities. It aims to develop practitioners with an advanced level of knowledge and competence in planning, developing, advising, and delivering sustainable solutions in relevant public sector, industry, or community contexts.
Studying online, on a full-time or part-time basis, you will critically analyze the theories, principles, and concepts of renewable energy, carbon budgeting, and community energy development.
*subject to re-validation
Special features
- Modules are led by recognized experts in the field of community development and low-carbon technologies
- You will study fully online which means you can fit your studies around your professional and personal life, within the UK and internationally
- You can study individual modules for personal or professional development (CPD), or work towards the PgCert, PgDip, or full master's degree
Curriculum
PgCert
Core modules are:
- Developing a community energy project
- Net zero society
- Renewable energy technologies
PgDip
Optional modules:
Semester 1
- Energy, climate and carbon
- Measuring greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint
- Quantitative research methods and data analysis
- Sustainable land use
- Understanding the policy environment
Semester 2
- Energy modelling for buildings
- Qualitative inquiry
- The economics of community wealth building
- Tidal wave and future energy
- Understanding sustainable discourses
- Working with communities
MSc
To achieve the award of MSc Net Zero Communities you must complete the PgDip and a research dissertation.
Program delivery
Start date
- September
- January (part-time study only)
How will I study my course?
- Full-time
- Part-time
- You will study through supported online learning using the university's virtual learning environment (VLE)
- This method of flexible study enables you to fit your course and your professional development around your personal and professional life, within the UK and internationally
- You will have support from your tutors and studies advisor
How long will my course last?
- Full-time (PgCert, PgDip, and MSc): 18 months @ 35 hours per week
- Part-time (PgCert, PgDip, and MSc): 3 to 4 years @ 12 to 18 hours per week
- Part-time (PgCert and PgDip): 2 years @ 12 to 18 hours per week
- Part-time (PgCert only): 1 year @ 12 to 18 hours per week
Several hours per week indicates the total number of hours you should dedicate to the course, which includes time spent in lectures and your own time spent on individual study and research.
Program Tuition Fee
Admissions
Why study at University of the Highlands and Islands
Achieve a UK degree without moving abroad
Courses in health, sustainability, engineering, history, outdoors and more with the University of the Highlands and Islands:
- Flexible study options to fit with your life
- #3 in the UK and #1 in Scotland for postgraduate student satisfaction
- Top 10 most affordable UK universities
- Decades of online teaching experience
Browse all of the online undergraduate and postgraduate programmes that we offer for international students.
Career Opportunities
What can I do on completion of my course?
On completion of this Masters in Net Zero Communities, you will be well-equipped to take up positions in the management of community development projects, and the public and private sectors.