MERGED is a two-year (120 ECTS) programme. The first year of study takes place in Copenhagen and the second in either Warsaw or Milan dependent on your choice of specialisation. The language of instruction is English. The choice of mobility tracks is made at the time of application. Please note that the choice of mobility-track is binding.
The agreed capacity for the EMJM in Global Environment and Development is 40 students annually, with a planned equal distribution between mobility tracks.
All students start together and complete their first year in Copenhagen, learning interdisciplinarity (30 ECTS) and preparing for their Agricultural Development (natural science) or Sustainable Environmental Development (social science) mobility track (30 ECTS).
For the second year of studies (60 ECTS), each student chooses a mobility track to be completed at either UMIL or UW.
The students then split into the two lines of specialisation: the Agricultural Development in Milan and the Sustainable Environmental Development in Warsaw. The first half of the second year is module work, while a combination of a joint intra-semester workshop focused on peer-reviewing thesis synopses and joint reflection on method choices and the thesis work constitutes the second half before the graduates are together for the final time at the two-day End of Programme Employment Workshop (non-credit giving).
The first study year aims to provide knowledge and experience of interdisciplinarity, a thorough and broad introduction to environment-development issues, and prepare students for their specialisation while also developing their generic skills and promoting the values of scholarship:
- provides students with a basic understanding of the principles and processes that underpin environment-development challenges and solutions, with particular importance assigned to interdisciplinarity
- commences each student’s studies in their area of specialisation (continued in the second year)
- develops students’ intellectual, practical, numeracy, communication, information and communication technology (ICT), interpersonal/teamwork, self-management and professional development skills
- inculcate the values of scholarship: inquiry, reflection, integrity, open-mindedness, evidence-based thinking, and collegiality
The modules offered in Copenhagen fall into three categories: compulsory modules regardless of second-year mobility track – the emphasis is on providing interdisciplinary understanding and the ability to work interdisciplinarily; specialisation modules on the track leading to Warsaw – emphasizing social sciences in relation to sustainable environmental development; and specialisation modules on the track leading to Milano – emphasizing natural sciences in relation to agricultural development. Note that modules are taught in four blocks (each of nine weeks; two blocks can be considered equivalent to a semester) with a standard module size of 7.5 ECTS. Courses are offered by three departments: Food and Resource Economics; Plant and Environmental Sciences; and Geosciences and Natural Resource Management.
You can check the course description at: www.kurser.ku.dk
The following is a tabular presentation of the composition of modules in the first year per line of specialisation. Shaded modules are compulsory for all MERGED students.
First-year module combination for students on the Warsaw social science mobility track (each module is 7.5 ECTS except the field module), compulsory modules are shaded
1 Or: Applied Ethnobotany; Land Use Transitions in the Global South; Political Ecology; Tropical Forests, People, and Policies
2 Or: Globalisation and Dynamics in Global Value Chains; Participatory Natural Resource Governance
3 For legal reasons (due to fieldwork costs), this cannot be made compulsory in Denmark; it is, however, strongly recommended. The alternative options are Global Environmental Governance; International Migration – Flows, Networks and Diasporas
4 Or: Project in practice (internship); Critical Development Studies; Qualitative Methods; Rural-Urban Transformations in the Global South; Environmental Justice
First-year module combination for students on the Milano Agricultural Development mobility track (each module is 7.5 ECTS except the field module), compulsory modules are shaded
1 Or: Advanced Crop Production; Plant Infection and Disease Management; Tropical Crop Production
2 Or: Agroforestry; Applied Insect Ecology and Biological Control; Climate Management in Plant Production and Research; From Plants to Bioenergy; Soil Biology
3 For legal reasons (due to fieldwork costs), this cannot be made compulsory in Denmark; it is, however, strongly recommended. The alternative option is Global Environmental Governance; Plant Ecophysiology in a Changing Climate; Plant Genome Editing and Selection; Land Use and Environmental Modelling; Remote Sensing in Land Science Studies
4 Or: Project in practice (internship)
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
1 Each student chooses at least 11 ECTS among the 11 modules: 1. Experimental methodologies in agriculture (6 ECTS); 2. Biomass and waste recycling (7); 3. Environmental impact of agro-food production systems (4); 4. Agro-environmental analysis and modelling (6); 5. Energy for agriculture (6); 6. Plant disease and pest management (6); 7. Cropping systems (8); 8. Natural resources economics (6); 9. International cooperation and crop-livestock systems (6); 10. Characterisation and management of animal and plant genetic resources (6); or 11. Adaptation of livestock systems to climate change (6)
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
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.
