This multidisciplinary programme is designed to equip graduates with the knowledge and skills required to take up the exciting job opportunities arising from the recent adoption of marine spatial planning and related developments in marine conservation and the maritime industries.
Marine spatial planning is now developing as a key component of marine management. It aims to deliver a more organised sharing of sea space between demands as diverse as nature conservation, tourism, ports and shipping, renewable energy, fishing, aquaculture and mineral extraction. It seeks to integrate social, economic and environmental uses of the coast and sea.
Marine planning is being taken up by coastal nations around the world, including Australia, China, the United States of America, South Africa and several European nations, such as Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Some nations, such as the UK, now have statutory provisions for planning their coastal and marine waters and bodies and procedures for preparing marine plans and implementing them. All European Union coastal states are now required to introduce marine planning, following a Directive passed in 2014.
So there is a growing demand for professionals who understand marine science and management on the one hand, and spatial planning, as has long been practised on land, on the other. This postgraduate programme bridges the gap between these two disciplines, and equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to embark on a career within marine management.
This programme leads to the award of a Master of Science degree. It is a full-time, one-year course, though it is also possible to study part-time over two years, combining studies with other responsibilities. This is the first programme of its kind to be accredited by the Royal Town Planning Institute as a specialist Masters course. Gaining the degree is a step towards professional membership of the Institute.
Here is a selection of the topics recently chosen by the MSc students for their dissertations:
- Implementation of Marine Spatial Planning in Portugal
- Global food security: finding space for aquaculture
- Stakeholder Participation in Marine Planning in the UK
- Success factors for offshore wind energy
- China’s system of Marine Functional Zoning
- Assessing the value of sand dune systems in the North West of England
- Stakeholder involvement in the Irish Sea Conservation Zone project
- Reducing the impact of offshore wind farms on seabirds
- Mitigating the impacts of tidal barrages
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