Global Development and Sustainability

This degree is designed to give you the skills and knowledge you’ll need to analyse contemporary global challenges.

In core modules, you’ll learn key principles in geography and you’ll apply these to examine sustainable development challenges and opportunities in a range of global contexts. 

You’ll be able to choose optional modules in your second and final years, enabling you to specialise and develop your own interests. International field trips and a work placement give you the opportunity to develop practical, transferable graduate skills that are applicable to a variety of careers.

Year one
You’ll develop a foundational knowledge of the social and environmental processes that shape global development and sustainability challenges, and you’ll acquire the basic skills needed to examine and analyse these issues.

Year two
In core modules you'll develop a more in depth understanding of sustainable development and learn critical skills and knowledge that are essential for careers in Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), companies, charities and government agencies.

Optional modules enable you to specialise in topics such as:

• climate change
• food and nutrition
• environmental hazards
• social justice
• migration.

You’ll also start to plan for your career options, with opportunities to undertake modules on geotechnologies, advocacy for change, or a work placement.

The optional field trip to Italy offers a unique opportunity to explore development and sustainability themes in a highly dynamic, real-world context. On this trip you’ll learn about a range of topics such as: earthquake disasters, flood hazards, air quality and pollution, climate change impacts and vulnerabilities, regional development, sustainability and urban geographies. You’ll also have opportunities to experience the regional diversity, food and culture of Italy. Please note that some of our field trips may incur additional costs on top of your course fees. Financial support for field trip costs may be available via the Bath Spa University International Travel Fund.

An optional Professional Placement Year between your second and final years gives you the opportunity to gain relevant and valuable experience in the workplace.

Year three
In your final year, you’ll complete an independent research project (supervised by one of our expert lecturers) allowing you to undertake a piece of original research on a topic of your choosing related to global development and sustainability.

Students have undertaken their final year dissertation projects in a wide range of locations across the UK, as well as in countries such as Brazil and Ghana.

Optional modules offer you the opportunity to study topics such as:

• Disaster risk reduction
• Conservation in Africa
• Managing sustainability in businesses
• Education and sustainable development
• Environmental justice

An optional field trip to Spain allows you to study topics such as urban sustainability, city planning and urban development, environmental hazards and social inequalities. 

You’ll be assessed through a variety of engaging and challenging assessment formats designed to help you to develop key skills and to prepare for your future career or postgraduate study.

Your assessments will depend on the modules you choose, but may include a mix of essays, projects, reports, posters, presentations, video clips, field or lab-based activities, reflective commentaries or online tests.

Most modules are assessed primarily through coursework and assessment rather than tests or exams.

You'll complete many of your assessments as an individual, but there are also some group projects designed to help you to develop essential collaborative working skills.

In addition to the help provided by your subject lecturers, you can also access extensive support for your assessments through ASk, the Academic Skills Service.

You’ll be taught in lectures, workshops and seminars, with small groups that enable discussion and collaborative learning. You’ll develop your skills using our on-campus laboratories and specialist equipment. 

You’ll also have opportunities to develop fieldwork skills both in the UK and overseas. 

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Fieldwork is an integral part of our Global Development and Sustainability programme as it provides you with the opportunities to learn hands-on skills with real-world applications.

There are optional residential field trips in second and third year. Our current field trip destinations are Italy (second year) and Spain (third year). Some modules also include fieldwork in the local area including on our beautiful Newton Park campus.

Please note that you will have to make a financial contribution towards the cost of residential field trips.

You’ll have the opportunity to undertake a work placement in your second year and a community engagement placement in your final year, as well as the option to undertake a professional placement year between your second and final year.

Students have undertaken placements in the UK and in overseas locations such as Madagascar, Guatemala, Thailand, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the Cayman Islands. Students have worked with public and private sector organisations in a variety of fields including local and national government, research and policy, advocacy, sustainability and conservation.

Guest speakers from industry and previous graduates contribute to the learning experience throughout the course. This insightful engagement with potential employers will help you make those all-important career decisions when you graduate.

This degree can prepare you for a diverse range of careers in sectors such as sustainability, environmental management and policy, planning and development, research, consultancy, business, education, humanitarian response, government, non-government organisations (NGOs), and charities.

The course also provides you with the knowledge and skills needed to progress to postgraduate study in related areas such as development, sustainability, disaster risk, climate change adaptation or environmental management.

Whatever your aspirations, our aim is that the real-world experience you gain on this course will set you up to take on diverse challenges, and to thrive in doing so.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

The Professional Placement Year (PPY) provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for, and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Before your PPY, you'll work to identify roles of interest and secure a placement. The Placements Team will support through timetabled sessions and 1:1 appointments.

As well as completing a minimum of 900 placement hours, you will complete two assessments demonstrating your skill development, growth in professional behaviours and how the PPY has impacted your future career aspirations.

You’ll be taught using our specialist facilities on our Newton Park campus in Bath as well as at field sites around the South West region and overseas.

• Lectures, seminars and workshops
  Teaching takes place in lecture and seminar rooms on our beautiful Newton Park campus including in the Commons building.
• Laboratories
  We have a number of well-equipped and recently refurbished laboratories dedicated to a variety of analytical applications spanning audio-visual data, soils/water/air and microfossils, to name a few.
• On-campus fieldwork
  Our location at Newton Park, nestled in a parkland valley setting just outside Bath, is a beautiful and unique 'natural laboratory' in which to pursue environmental education. Make the most of this setting by studying environmental processes on-site including at our stream gauging station and instrumented landslide complex.
• Library
• Commons building
• Virtual Learning Environment
• Specialist resources and dedicated Subject Librarian
• Writing and Learning Centre
• English Language Unit.

You’ll benefit from our excellent resources including laboratories, field tools, and a suite of IT hardware/software, all supported by a highly-skilled team of technicians. These include:

• Audio-visual data capture including cameras, dictaphones and mobile projectors.
• TourTalk audio communications system for use in field teaching.
• Monitoring of environmental parameters including noise, light, air/gas, pH, particulates, water, metals, and volatiles; using dissolved oxygen and conductivity probes, flow meters, an atomic absorption spectrometer, a gas chromatogram, and a scanning spectrophotometer.
• Hydro-meteorological monitoring including Automatic Weather Stations, temperature/humidity loggers, anemometers, infiltrometers, and dip meters.
• Survey and analysis. Hardware comprising Total Stations, Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), differential and handheld GPS and UAV.
• Software including ArcGIS Pro and Nvivo.
• Microfossil analysis using type collections and microscopes.
• Soil/sediment analysis using furnaces/ovens, particle size sieving, soil augers/corers.