Master in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development
Duration: 2 years (120 ECTS credits)
Program Coordinator: Todor Arpad
DESCRIPTION
The professional master’s degree taught in English ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, of the Faculty of Political Science within SNSPA, Bucharest, is intended to train the professional skills of all higher education graduates interested in public policies with an effect on the environment and sustainable development. The program has a duration of 2 years (120 ECTS credits), holds ARACIS accreditation, and the program coordinator is Todor Arpad.
The need for specialists in this field is constantly growing, given the countless alarm signals raised by international experts. Perhaps the most important IPCC report, published in August 2021, claims that global temperature will exceed the 1.5℃ threshold in the next decade and the 2℃ threshold in three decades if strict measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not adopted. These two thresholds signify the point at which irreversible consequences are expected to occur for both the planet’s climate stability and human society.
The response of states and the international community was not slow to appear, but it is still criticized as insufficient and underfunded. The European Union has set ambitious targets for the coming decades through the European Green Deal. Thus, by 2030 it aims for a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and for 2050 climate neutrality. To achieve these targets, the EU has adopted ambitious legislation that aims to carry out the energy transition in areas with high carbon emissions: industry, energy, residential and transport.
In turn, Romania has assumed its own environmental objectives for the coming decades. Romania’s climate action is carried out by competent authorities, non-governmental organizations, university programs, the private sector, experts, citizens and covers two basic components: preventing and combating the effects of climate change and adapting to the new climate context.
Graduates of the Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for a wide range of occupations provided for in the COR: