• UAB Master's Degree (Continuing Education)
  • Code: 3853/6
  • 6th edition
  • Modality: Onsite
  • Credits: 60 ECTS
  • Start date: 01/10/2023
  • Finish date: 30/09/2024
  • Places: 40
  • Price: 3960 €
  • Teaching language: English
  • Location: Escola de Postgrau UAB / Llealitat Santsenca / Parc de Recerca Biomédica de Barcelona / Associació del Punt d'Interacció de Collserola / Can Decreix
This is one of the first and few Master's degrees in the fields of Political Ecology, Degrowth and Environmental justice. The Master's is co-organized by ICTA-UAB and Research & Degrowth International (R&Di), bringing together the scholarly excellence of ICTA-UAB researchers with hands-on experience in activism and policy-making of R&DI. It benefits from an ongoing European Research Council Synergy project on Post-Growth (REAL), currently the biggest degrowth-oriented project in Europe, and from a long tradition of research and advocacy around questions of environmental justice at ICTA-UAB, including the Atlas of Environmental Justice.

Our program is enriched by its Barcelona location, the capital of Catalonia, a city and country historically at the forefront of experimentation with the commons, social justice and alternative economies. We have developed close collaborations and partnerships with several civil groups and cooperatives in the city and its metropolitan region and we likewise benefit from having a network of 'living labs' in the Catalan countryside, where degrowth can be practiced and experienced in a rural setting.

The content of the Master's degree is designed to respond to the current era of unfolding ecological breakdown and the interrelated crises of growing inequalities, poverty and environmental disasters. The common root of these crises is the growth imperative of capitalist economies or else risk collapse. The Master's provides a holistic understanding of environmental and social problems as inter-connected and linked to the uneven distribution of power under capitalism, requiring profound systemic change. This program aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools to think critically and to effectively bring forward such change. We aspire to train the next generation of environmental justice activists, engaged civil servants, and entrepreneurs of the new cooperative economy - those who will put into action the best ideas for creating a society that is fair, enjoyable and ecologically sustainable.

Our pedagogy is based on a combination of lecture-style and group learning. You will be asked to read and write academic texts, as well as learn through field visits and engaging with local initiatives focused on grassroots alternatives. Group work is meant to hone your teamwork skills, therefore you will be asked to develop most of your assignments and your final project in groups.

Teachers positionality

In our Master's program, you will get theoretical classes from top scholars in the fields of political ecology, degrowth, environmental justice and the commons, including from experts in feminist economic perspectives and (de)colonialism. You will develop new
professional skills that can be put into practice in public organizations, non-profit and social and solidarity economy sectors.

Our program is taught at the highest academic level by researchers who are all PhD professors or holders- all active in publishing top-quality research but also public servants and activists; as such, it is suitable for students who have a Bachelor's degree and also for students who already have another Master's (or even a PhD) and want to switch to a research career and a PhD (or post-doc) in political ecology, environmental justice or degrowth.

We acknowledge our positionality as scholars/activists of particular upbringings, social positions, and ethnic/racial backgrounds located and acculturated mostly in the South of the Global North, although not exclusively. We are also aware of the limitations of our expertise and the partiality of the conceptual tools developed by our group here in Barcelona and ecological economics and political ecology communities that we are part of. We believe, however, in the transformative power of the ideas we have been working on for years to articulate and bring about constructive change, and we are eager to share this knowledge with people who can put it to

Career opportunities

Our masters is addressed for young people who want to work in:

- The Social and Solidarity Economy
- Public Administration
- Environmental Justice Organizations
- Think Tanks
- Professional Consultancies

This Master does not lead to a PhD. It is a professional program, meaning a Master's granted by our University as part of its activities of continuous formation. Within Spain (and most of Europe), these marster's are fully recognized as many other master's degree. But whitin Spain, this master's alone does not allow you access to a PhD program (this might not be the case in other countries though where master's is not a requirement for entering a PjD program9.

Internships

Students are welcome to look for institutions of their interest and be autonomous in the choice, provided that the mission and activities of these institutions are in line with those of the masters. During the first term we will also provide a list of institutions interested in accepting students in practicums. Research and Degrowth International is one among them and we strongly encourage and support students who want to develop their internships or final projects in priority activities of the organization.

Scholarships and financial aid

Check all the information on the possibilities for grants and scholarships in the page for UAB financial aids, grants and calls (https://www.uab.cat/web/financial-aids-grants-and-calls-1345808144576.html)

Check all the information on the possibilities for grants and scholarships offered by our masters program on the masters website (https://master.degrowth.org/faq/#application).

Coordinating centres

Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Ambientales

Collaborating centres

Associació del Punt d’Interacció de Collserola
Associació Recerca i Decreixement Barcelona
Can Decreix

Contact

Brenda Nistor

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