Admissions open for TISS — M.A. in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development

M.A. in Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development

Intake: 20

Eligibility

a) Programme require completion of Bachelor’s Degree of minimum of 3 years duration or its equivalent ( under the 10+2+3 or 10+2+4 or 10+2+2+1 year bridge course pattern of study or any other pattern fulfilling the mandatory requirements of 15 years formal education) from a recognised university, in any discipline.

b) Candidates who will be able to complete all the requirements of their final year Bachelor’s Degree examinations by Saturday, June 14, 2014 are also eligible to apply to all the programme.

In case of (b), admission to any of the Master’s Degree Programmes of the Institute will be provisional. In case the examination process for the final year is not over before June 14, 2014, the provisional admission stands cancelled. If a provisionally admitted student fails in the final year examination, the offer of provisional admission automatically stands cancelled.

Description of Programme:

Rationale

Every year the world’s population increases by 78 million people; all who are rapidly consuming the earth’s limited natural resources. In such a scenario, we find that there are voluminous problems that confront us – human population explosion, poverty, inequality, pollution, political manipulation of the public for corporate benefit, the abuse of public and natural resources, and the dangers of toxic emissions, to name a few. With the rise in global consciousness regarding the causes and impact of environmental damage, efforts have been made to understand these issues. By the turn of the millennium, as the dangers of global warming and the consequent climate change became evident, the limitations of a human-centric view of environment became clear. Therefore, in the recent years there has been a shift to a more holistic approach based on ecology – a view that sees humankind as part of an interconnected web of life. It becomes imperative to understand the interactions between the human systems and the natural world. We need to apply critical thinking skills with interdisciplinary scientific analysis if we are to have long-term and sustainable solutions for the benefit of current and future generations. Individuals and groups working in industrial and development sectors need to understand the possible impact of their activities on the environment and make plans accordingly. Similarly, for professionals working with NGOs and people’s movements, an understanding of these issues is essential if they are to effectively intervene to ensure that environmental concerns are respected in projects that affect the communities with which they work.

All the courses in the proposed MA programme will work towards an elaborate understanding of Environment, Ecology and Sustainable development. The programme is a combination of theoretical knowledge, awareness of contemporary environmental issues and fieldwork experiences. The aim of the course is to provide knowledge and skills to the students, which will help them understand the existing problems effecting our environment, possible ways to reduce such impacts and increase awareness in communities. This professional course will give students the opportunity to understand the institutional structures concerning environment, both at the local and international level, as well as the policies, issues and problems of India and strategies to address these.

By the end of the course students will be able to understand:

1. Human-environment interaction and the different approaches to studying environment and ecology.
2. Interrelationships of resource use, economics, politics and their impact on the environment;
3. Environmental issues and their linkages to politics of development at the local, regional and global level.
4. Issues in environmental economics and natural resource economics.
5. Problems and debates of developing countries.

Number of credits: 64

For more details visit the TISS Campuses and Programmes website.