Agro-Environmental Management – (M.Sc.)

Students completing the MSc in Agro-Environmental Management will help solve one of the largest global challenges of the 21st century: how to combine the increasing need for natural resources in agriculture with a sustainable management of nature and the environment.

People with in-depth knowledge and interdisciplinary skills regarding the interactions between agriculture, nature and the environment are becoming ever more important when seeking to meet the challenges of sustainable development and co-existence between agriculture and the environment.

The MSc programme gives a holistic understanding of the processes in the open land, the interaction between the different production forms in agriculture and environmental management and nature conservation. This knowledge can be used to create win-win situations for both agriculture, nature and the environment.

Nature and the environment under pressure

The world population is continually increasing. In the decades to come it will therefore be of paramount importance that the production of food and other agricultural products also increases. This can put more pressure on nature and the environment. The potential for extracting fossil fuels is decreasing, so there are hopeful expectations that agriculture can produce renewable bioenergy alongside food production. In addition, climate change is altering conditions for food production. Ecosystems are strongly affected by the climate and climate changes affect agriculture and its interaction with natural ecosystems globally.

Profile

As a student at this MSc programme you specialise in the interaction between nature, environment, climate and agriculture. You achieve a solid background knowledge of agricultural production, an extensive holistic understanding of interrelationships and processes in the agro-ecosystem and of the impacts of an agricultural production on nature and the environment.

The degree also gathers knowledge about national and international legislation and public administration in the area, and you achieve interdisciplinary competences that may contribute to solutions to environmental challenges at local, regional and global scale.

The degree equips you with measurement methods and modelling tools to analyse issues within the fields of agriculture, nature and environment, and you will be able to evaluate, select and utilise both theoretical and experimental methods in the analysis of relationships in primary agriculture. You will also be able to communicate agricultural science at both at the scientific level and more widely to the general public.

Professional Aim

The objective of this degree is to provide you with the tools to assess and apply theoretical and experimental methods and results in order to clarify relationships in primary agriculture and the interaction with the environment.

With an MSc in Agro-Environmental Management you are well equipped to seek a wide variety of jobs. With extensive knowledge and interdisciplinary expertise in the area of agriculture, nature, environment and climate interactions there are job opportunities in, for example, regional environment agencies, municipal nature conservation offices, agricultural advisory services, consulting engineers, teaching, NGOs in nature and environment and EU institutions, ministries and other public authorities.

Interdisciplinary and International MSc Programme

Agro-Environmental Management builds on components from four core areas at Aarhus University, and you therefore get a broad education with specialised skills. The strong base means that the teaching is undertaken by leading international scientists within the main study areas. We aim to give you a holistic understanding of the environment, nature, climate and agriculture.

The topics of the degree such as climate change, aquatic environment, soil resource and society are global and with the considerable Danish expertise and experience in this area the degree attracts students from abroad. We therefore guarantee that you will be challenged on both the scientific and social levels as you will have many fellow students from various nations. It also means that you will be taught in English.