Programme

The Erasmus Mundus Joint programme in Global Environment and Development  (MERGED) is a leading international two-year master. The language of instruction is English.
All students study together for the first year at the University of Copenhagen. In the second year, you move to study in either Milan or Warsaw, depending on specialisation:
  • Agricultural Development at the University of Milan
  • Sustainable Environmental Development at the University of Warsaw

The choice of specialisation is made at the time of application and is binding. We accept up to 40 students each year, distributed equally between the specialisations.
The first year focuses on obtaining interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, including supervised data collection in the field and in-depth knowledge preparing you for your specialisation.
In the second year, the first semester is dedicated to coursework and the second semester to the thesis. The programme ends with a two-day End of Programme Employment Workshop.

  • MORE DETAILS BELOW
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First year – structure and content in Copenhagen

This year provides knowledge and experience of interdisciplinarity, a thorough and broad introduction to environment-development issues, and preparing you for your second-year specialisation while also developing your generic skills and academic potential. More specifically, the first year:

  • provides you with an understanding of the principles and processes that underpin environment-development challenges and solutions, with particular importance assigned to interdisciplinarity
  • provides you with methods to collect primary data in the field, then takes you to the field (at various global destinations) to practice these methods
  • prepares you for your second-year specialisation
  • develops your intellectual, practical, numeracy, communication, information and communication technology, interpersonal/teamwork, self-management, and professional development skills
  • inculcates the values of scholarship: inquiry, reflection, integrity, open-mindedness, evidence-based thinking, and collegiality

First-year programme overview

In Copenhagen, there are four blocks (each is nine weeks) of teaching each year. Each block is 15 ECTS, with 1 ECTS equivalent to around 28 work hours. The elective courses are entirely free – you can choose what you want. The restricted elective courses must be selected from the specific list of courses (see below) for your line of specialisation.

The following programme overview is for students with study start in September 2025. If you are already a MERGED student, please find your programme overview on UCPH Study Information.

Compulsory courses: 30 ECTS
Restricted elective courses: 15 ECTS
Elective courses: 15 ECTS

YearBlock 1Block 2Block 3Block 4
1Global Challenges in Environment and DevelopmentQuantitative and Qualitative Methods in Environment and DevelopmentPracticing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment 
Elective course
1Restricted elective courseRestricted elective coursePracticing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment 
Elective course
Specialisation: Agricultural Development (second year at University of Milan)

The restricted elective courses (a total of 15 ECTS) must be chosen from the list below. Click on each course for a detailed description:

Course TitleBlockECTS
Tropical Crop Production  17.5 ECTS
Advanced Crop Production17.5 ECTS
Experimental Soil Analysis17.5 ECTS
Tropical Forest Restoration17.5 ECTS
Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems17.5 ECTS
Agroforestry27.5 ECTS
Applied Insect Ecology and Biological Control27.5 ECTS
Applied Agrohydrology27.5 ECTS
Global Environmental Governance317.5 ECTS
Plant Ecophysiology in a Changing Climate317.5 ECTS
Land Use and Environmental Modelling317.5 ECTS
Environmental Impact Assessment47.5 ECTS
Entrepreneurship and Innovation1+47.5 ECTS
Agricultural Value Chains in Developing Countries47.5 ECTS
1 Note that students will not usually take elective courses in block 3 as this block is fully occupied by the 15 ECTS “Practicing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment” course
Specialisation: Sustainable Environmental Development (second year at University of Warsaw)

The restricted elective courses (a total of 15 ECTS) must be chosen from the below list. Click on each course for a detailed description:

Course TitleBlockECTS
Applied Ethnobotany17.5 ECTS
Political Ecology17.5 ECTS
Land Use Transitions in the Global South17.5 ECTS
Applied Econometrics17.5 ECTS
Global Forests and People17.5 ECTS
People, Poverty and Environmental Change27.5 ECTS
Participatory Natural Resource Governance27.5 ECTS
Globalisation and Dynamics in Global Value Chains27.5 ECTS
Environmental Justice27.5 ECTS
Global Environmental Governance317.5 ECTS
Human Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability317.5 ECTS
Rural-Urban Transformations in the Global South47.5 ECTS
Critical Development Studies47.5 ECTS
Agricultural Value Chains in Developing Countries47.5 ECTS
Gender, Environment and Sustainable Development47.5 ECTS
1 Note that students will not usually take elective courses in block 3 as this block is fully occupied by the 15 ECTS “Practicing Interdisciplinary Field Research on the Environment” course
Second year – structure and contents in Milan

The second year specialistion in Milan is on Agricultural Development. The compulsory modules continue the agricultural development specialisation commenced in the first year (with emphasis on plants), focusing on livestock, water management, and mechanization. The main aims are to:

  • develop students’ understanding of the principles and processes that underpin sustainable agricultural development
  • develop students’ abilities in the use of information technology, teamwork, communication skills and time management in an agriculture and development context
  • provide students with knowledge and skills needed by commercial companies, NGOs, and governments responding to current challenges to agricultural systems
  • equip students for a career in sustainable agricultural development and allied professions requiring an ability to synthesise concepts and ideas and to take a holistic view

Second-year modules on the Milano natural science mobility track, compulsory modules are shaded 

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For further info about elective courses, please refer to the MERGED webpage at the University of Milano: https://www.unimi.it/it/corsi/laurea-magistrale/global-environment-and-development

Second year – structure and contents in Warsaw

The second-year specialisation in Warsaw is on Sustainable Environmental Development. The compulsory modules focus on studying environment and development issues in relation to contemporary social challenges. The main aims are to:

  • develop students’ understanding of the principles and processes that underpin sustainable development and enable them to apply these principles to environmental development
  • develop students’ abilities in the use of information technology, communication skills, and time management in an environment and development context
  • develop students’ abilities to use methods, assess data, and design feasible environment-development interventions
  • equip students for a career in sustainable development and allied professions requiring an ability to synthesise concepts and ideas and to take a holistic view

Second-year modules on the Warsaw social science mobility track, compulsory modules are shaded 

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1 Each student chooses at least 11 ECTS from the nine modules: 1. Innovations and Knowledge Transfer (4 ECTS), 2. Global Justice and Human Rights (6), 3. Challenges of the Social Dimension of Sustainability (3), 4. Research Study (8), 5. International Environmental Law (8), 6. Entrepreneurship, Leadership & CSR (3), 7. Reclamation, Remediation and Renaturalisation of the Environment (2), 8. The World at the Crossroads (2), 9. Communication, Education and Cooperation (3), or 10. Climate Change (3).

Thesis

The MERGED Programme includes a thesis corresponding to 30 ECTS, including an intra-semester workshop (3 ECTS). The thesis must be written within the academic scope of the programme. The thesis must be based on empirical field work. The fieldwork can be combined with an internship at international organisations, NGOs, universities, or similar. The thesis is submitted and examined.

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