Programme description for Master’s Programme in Sustainability Management (2026–2028)

The programme shall educate competent candidates for key posts in government and business, who will partake in leading economic development towards environmental sustainability. By the end of the programme, a successful candidate should have the following learning outcomes, specified in terms of knowledge, skills, and general competence:

Knowledge

The candidate should be able to:

• Demonstrate advanced knowledge on basic business school disciplines, such as financial and marketing management, ethics, and leadership and organizational behaviour.
• Apply advanced knowledge on specific technical and managerial challenges and solutions in relevant fields, such as energy supply, food security, and global climate change.
• Understand and formulate environmentally defendable solutions, e.g. in public service supply, urban planning and management, conservation management, and in the management of natural resources use.

Skills

The candidate should be able to:

• Analyse existing theories, methods and practices and work independently with sustainability challenges.
• Collaborate in an international work environment and think across different knowledge domains.
• Apply critical, ethical and holistic perspectives and analyses in the management of business or government organisations towards economic efficiency, while minimising negative environmental impacts.
• Combine various academic competencies and practical experiences in identifying, planning and implementing novel managerial strategies for merging economic progress and environmental sustainability in different societal contexts.
• Conduct an independent research project, in line with methodological ethical standards in the field of sustainability management.

General competence

The candidate should be able to:

• Communicate in an effective, persuasive, and professional manner through both written texts and oral presentations.
• Make ethical and responsible decisions and understand how organisations can act responsibly.
• Engage in contemporary discourses on issues related to sustainability management with practitioners, researchers, and other stakeholders.
• Make use of interdisciplinary approaches in order to address the most critical sustainability issues, as related to high-level urbanization, energy supply, the vulnerable clean water and food securities, air pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and the general effects of global climate change.
• Demonstrate the ability to translate knowledge and skills on sustainability management into action, and thus contribute to innovation and change in accordance with the UN sustainable development goals.

General admission criteria is completed bachelor’s degree or equivalent education with a scope of minimum 3 years’ duration.

1. Academic basis: Economics, management, life sciences, engineering, political science, geography or law are studies that are considered as a suitable academic basis.

1a: For applicants with a specialisation of at least 80 ECTS credits or a coherent vocational or professional programme of study of at least two years duration in business administration, marketing, management or similar, the following applies:
The subject areas below must be included in a total of at least 60 ECTS credits:

• Business Economics
• Economics
• Methodology
• Marketing
• Organisational and management subjects

All subject areas must be covered.

1b: Applicants with a specialisation of at least 80 credits or a coherent vocational or professional programme of studyof at least two years duration within life sciences, engineering, political science or law. Applicants with this academic basis must complete a compulsory 2 – month preliminary course before beginning their studies,

1c: Applicants with another relevant higher education may be found to be qualified after an individual assessment. Applicants with this academic basis must complete a compulsory 2-month preliminary course before beginning their studies.

There is no conditional admission for applicants to this study programme. Admission takes place in accordance with the Regulations concerning admission to programmes and courses at the University of Agder.

Students without a bachelor’s degree in business administration or equvialent degree as described in 1a in Admission requirements, must complete a 2-month intensive online preliminary course in disciplines such as accounting, finance, general economics, and statistics (Matriculation programme at UGM) before the first semester (during the summer).

Students with a bachelor’s degree in business administration may also take the preliminary course voluntarily. The preliminary course provides a sound basis for the mandatory coursework in the first semester.

The programme is a full-time 2-year master’s degree programme (120 ECTS), but mandatory courses are taught intensively over 18 months. The selected multidisciplinary approach makes this master programme unique. The programme is a joint degree in cooperation with Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Indonesia, where all the coursework (90 ECTS) is taught in Indonesia over two expanded semesters (one full year), while the last full semester with master thesis/internship (30 ECTS) is offered by UiA. The programme will have students from both Norway, Europe and ASEAN countries. The courses are taught jointly by professors from UGM and UiA, and practitioners from private businesses and public offices are invited as guest lecturers in most courses.

Combining competence from business school disciplines, such as Finance, Marketing, Strategy and Business Ethics, with knowledge and experiences from environmental sciences, like Forestry, Agronomy and Engineering, this programme brings students towards a deep understanding of environmental problems and solutions. A practical case study approach throughout the courses will educate and train the students in economic-ecological system analyses. Throughout the study programme, students will learn about the necessity of multi-stakeholder engagement and corporate and public social responsibility.

The majority of the core courses at UGM follow a learning method within the student-centered learning (SCL) paradigm. In this approach, students are active learners to find and construct their own knowledge. The lecturer serves as a facilitator to help students achieve learning objectives and develop interpersonal skills. The courses offered will consist of a variety of methods combining lectures, interactive discussions, case studies and assignments with current relevant issues to students. All students will be expected to share insights and experiences relating to the class material. In the concentration courses the students will for example practice mock persuasive communication, and mock global negotiations, have field visits and do group work.

The programme puts a strong emphasis on the interplay between theory and practice. Students will engage in real-life projects involving not only local students and academic staff, but also different businesses, and there will be a variety of guest lecturers from different business and sectors involved. Through the master theses course that involve an internship placement, the students will be able to combine theoretical knowledge and state-of-the-art research with practice and situated learning.

To support the learning process, UGM has developed an information system called SINTESIS (Integrated Information System of Economics and Business). Most courses will be held at UGM Campus, but one of the courses (Sustainable Business Strategy) will be offered in cooperation with Harvard Business School through online modules.

The programme will make use of different digital learning and communication tools in order to improve the overall learning environment and to stimulate collaboration.

The language of instruction is English in all courses.

The programme is in nature international, and we expect that students participating in the program will come from at many different countries. The second and third semester will be given by UGM in Indonesia, and the master theses in the fourth semester will be given by UiA.

Graduates from this program can expect to have careers in private enterprises or public offices dealing with environmental challenges. There is an increasing demand for candidates with the combined competence and understanding of business administration, environmental impact analyses, and viable technical solutions in various sectors. As markets and corporations put higher priority on the environment while consuming and producing goods and services, we see an increasing number of Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) being employed. They work on analysing and improving institutions’ environmental impact, and thereby their recognition. In government offices at central and local levels, there is also an increasing need for candidates who can understand and implement environmentally defendable solutions. This competence could be relevant in public service supply, urban planning and management, conservation management, and in the management of all sorts of natural resources use. Students in this study program will get in close contact with business leaders and public officers through practitioners’ guest lectures and, not least, by the Internship offered both in Norway and in ASEAN countries. This is expected to facilitate students’ early employment and successful careers.

Successful completion may also qualify for admission to the PhD programme at the School of Business and Law at UiA, and to other PhD programmes in Norway and abroad.