Master's Governance of Sustainability Transformations

To address sustainability challenges related to climate, water, energy, food and biodiversity, transformative changes in the way we think, organize, decide and act are necessary. But how to bring such fundamental changes about? Can governments, businesses and civil society organize or steer these transformations? And how to do so in the face of growing inequality, urbanization, digitalization, and the rise of populism for example? These are some of the big governance questions that are at the core of this programme, which aims to educate future leaders in governments, NGOs and academia. You will develop in-depth understanding of the social, political and legal dimensions of transformative governance and put this to work in designs of and negotiations over novel governance arrangements. The program’s embeddedness in one of the world’s leading life sciences universities creates opportunities for the development of true interdisciplinary skills and science for impact, which are needed to address today’s and future grand sustainability challenges.

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Why this programme?

  • Join an advanced social science programme that applies governance knowledge to the causes and consequences of current and future global sustainability challenges in food, climate, energy and biodiversity systems
  • Become an expert in advanced theories on governance and transformative change processes across different governance scales and regional contexts
  • Develop state-of-the-art research skills and competences to unpack the complexity of today’s sustainability challenges and to analyze the functioning, design, and implications of sustainability governance arrangements
  • Learn hands-on skills to develop solutions and negotiate transformative sustainability processes to contribute towards a more sustainable future.
  • Join an interdisciplinary and real-life consultancy project to solve real world problems

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Study programme of Governance of Sustainability Transformations

This is a two years programme, including a hands-on Consultancy course, an Internship and a Major thesis. If you want to know more, check the Programme of Governance of Sustainability Transformations.

Application and admission

If you have a BSc in in a relevant Social Science field, or a BSs in Environmental Sciences with a substantial social sciences component, you might be eligible for this master. Check Admission requirements and application procedures for more information.

Student experiences

The best way to get to know a place is by getting to know the people. Students share their experiences with you about the master's programme and student life in Wageningen on the page Student experiences.

In my experience, students attending on campus make special effort to include online students and are always willing to lend a helping hand where necessary.
Student Ineke

Future career

Typically graduates of this master programme end up in connecting ‘spider in a web’ roles, being able to work with people from different departments and backgrounds. As a graduate you have various career opportunities. You can, for example work in governements , NGO’s or universities. Read more about Career perspectives and opportunities and stories of alumni.