Education
Students need access to the educational opportunities that will provide them with the knowledge and skills needed to address the challenges of climate change.
Society also urgently needs a body of trained professionals to work within the sustainable development field itself and working for wider businesses as they transition to the net zero world.
We believe universities must therefore provide climate education to all and embed education for sustainable development in everything that they do.
Our Net Zero Initiative provides a focal point for delivering this education and training at an ambitious scale, providing both deep technical skills and broader multidisciplinary understanding of the challenges of the transition to net zero emissions and the technologies that will realise the ambitious goal.
We educate the current and future workforce, and we build strategic leadership capabilities and organisations to tackle this critical global challenge.
We also work with our students to understand the impacts of climate anxiety and address the future mental health implications and infrastructure we’ll need to support them in a world with a changing climate.
Degree examples
Course unit examples
This unit aims to develop understanding of the engineering design and analysis of different devices and technologies for generating power from renewable sources including: solar, wind, wave, tidal, ocean thermal, geothermal, hydro-electric, and biofuels; to understand the environmental, operational and economic issues associated with each of these technologies.
Find out more about our Renewable Energy (MECH5275) unit.
The aim of this course is to acquaint students with the methods used to design and evaluate the processes used for the conversion of energy into useful work so that students understand the environmental consequences of energy conversion.
At the end of this unit students will be able to critically analyse technical, economic and societal impacts of energy conversion systems.
Find out more about our Energy and the Environment (AMME5101) unit.
Green engineering, eco-technology and sustainable technology are all interchangeable terms for the design of products and processes that maximise resource and energy efficiency, minimise (or preferably eliminate) waste and cause no harm to the environment.
This unit of study examines cutting edge examples of sustainable technologies across a broad range of applications relevant to chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Students critically analyse modern engineering processes and improve them, from the ground up if necessary, so that they satisfy the criteria of eco-design.
Find out more about our Green Engineering (CHNG5003) unit.
This unit examines the critical roles that energy and resource usage play in global, national and local sustainability.
The need for developed economies to decarbonise their energy supply and for developing countries to have access to clean energy and sustainable resources will require major changes in technology, policy and business systems.
This unit of study covers the fundamentals of energy and resource supply; sustainable supply and use of energy for industry, business and consumers; life cycle analysis; energy security and alternative energy systems.
Find out more about our Energy and Resources (SUST5003) unit.
This unit looks at the relationships between society, the environment and natural resources.
In our recent past the rapid rate of global environmental change has necessitated a breakdown of traditional disciplinary boundaries in research and social scientists are increasingly called upon to work alongside natural scientists in unravelling the complexities of the human-environmental nexus.
Students will examine a number of environmental issues and consider a variety of social science academic perspectives about environmental management.
Find out more about our Social Science of Environment (ENVI5801) unit.