As we head toward the new millennium the important role to be played by Environmental Studies graduates in local, national and global affairs has never been more apparent.
Once perceived as being full of doom and gloom environmentalists are now dealing in solutions; they are seeking positive ways forward that will improve people’s quality of life and at the same time preserve the integrity of the natural environment upon which we all depend.
All this means that there has rarely been a more exciting time to embark on a degree in Environmental Studies. These days one or another environmental issue is rarely out of the day’s headlines. In the international arena we’ve had the earth summit in New York, at the national level we’ve seen the environment become a central plank of new government policy and at the local level we’ve seen a fusion of grassroots environmental activists and local communities resisting threats to the environment and promoting viable alternatives through the framework of Local Agenda 21. All of these factors create a rapidly changing area of study which needs to engage with the real world.
Science or Social Science?
Environmental Studies (ES) degree courses have now been operating for well over twenty years. Responding to the first great rise in awareness of environmental issues, the early pioneering courses established a tradition which many other HE institutions have followed. ES takes an holistic approach to the study of the environment. This means that it has to transcend the science/social science divide, and also be prepared to accept insight from the arts and humanities. So, although a basic training in environmental sciences (ecology, geology, climatology, biology etc.) will be included, you will also get a foundation in social science (politics, economics, sociology etc.) However, it is probably only in the first year that you will encounter these traditional disciplines as separate subjects. A genuinely inter-disciplinary Environmental Studies degree will offer integrated modules in areas like waste management, rural and urban planning, ecotourism and resource management, gradually becoming more specialised as you progress to your final year. It is this wide range of areas, taught in an interdisciplinary fashion, that makes Environmental Studies such a distinct degree.
Both Environmental Science and Environmental Management degrees on the other hand will generally have a narrower remit. An Environmental Science degree can give excellent training in that specialised area, but will usually not leave much scope for exploring the social, economic, ethical and political dimensions. Environmental Science will also generally seek a science background from potential applicants. Environmental Management on the other hand takes to focus on the technical tools that can be used to minimise people’s impact on the environment. Environmental Studies, while retaining both these elements, will be broader, while still allowing students to become specialists through the sorts of modules that they select.
One way of checking whether an environmental degree is genuinely inter-disciplinary is to see if it has been accredited by the Institution of Environmental Scientists (the UK Professional Body). This is the professional body for environmental practitioners and academics, and they will only award their accreditation (giving graduates associate membership on successful completion of the degree) to courses that teach environmental studies in a truly integrated fashion.
Another important aspect of many ES degrees is their real-world focus. This is often helped by the inclusion of work experience, or by the option of a sandwich year. My own students have found that this experience definitely puts them at an advantage when they’re seeking employment. This real-world focus can also be developed through integrating your studies with work that is beneficial to the outside world, be it the community, a local authority or a business.
The highlight of any student’s ES experience is the fieldwork. Residential field weeks should be a part of all ES courses, with international sites becoming more popular. Fieldwork is absolutely essential for a Environmental Studies; to really appreciate environmental issues you need to get outside and see what’s going on.
Careers
As Environmental Studies is such a wide ranging degree there are many options available to graduates. The holistic nature of the degree makes students excellent at strategic thinking and at seeing the wider picture. Together with the academic and transferable skills which your courses will help you develop, you will be well placed in the general graduate career market. The encouraging news is that jobs that utilise your specific environmental skills are also on the increase. Local authorities, small and large businesses and a wide range of governmental and non-governmental organisations and agencies all have positions. If you choose the options on your degree wisely, you can place yourself in a position to work in any number of environmental fields. Be it in countryside management, environmental interpretation, environmental assessment and auditing, waste management and recycling, pollution monitoring and control or environmental education, to name just a few, you can play a vital role.
To succeed in these areas, and to help move towards and implement environmental solutions we need to have people that have strong interpersonal skills, that can engage successfully in conflict resolution and work co-operatively in teams, that they have a grasp of science but also an appreciation of how society, government and the economy interact. In short we need people with an excellent interdisciplinary training that has put the environment at its core. We need graduates in environmental studies.
