School of Social and Political Science

Sustainable Development

Body

A Sustainable Development Student 

Sustainable Development

After taking a break from education I started looking at potential degrees programmes. I'm interested in climate change and social responsibility and I felt that traditional degrees weren’t quite what I was looking for.

Sustainable Development is a relatively new degree programme that wasn’t available when I left school but it suits my interests perfectly and is really flexible.

This year I’m taking courses in:

  • Sustainable Development 1A
  • Social Anthropology 1A
  • Human Geography
  • Science and Society 1B
  • Sociology 1B
  • Social Anthropology 1B

 

Favourite Course

My favourite course has been Sustainable Development 1A. Each lecture is different and the lecturers are all really enthusiastic, which makes the course so engaging.

I'm really interested in the study of people; Social Anthropology, Human Geography and Sociology have allowed me to expand my knowledge. They're all quite different courses but all equally interesting. The great thing about the degree is that there are so many options available to you!

Honours degrees are designed to give you a broader and more flexible education. They allow you to try a range of subjects before specialising in your final two years.

City Life

Edinburgh is a vibrant city that has lots going on. For me it’s one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Where else has a castle on top of an extinct volcano?

It’s full of history and culture so has the best of both worlds. It has great shops and nightlife but when you feel like you want a break from it all you can go sit in Princes Street gardens beneath the castle and just relax.

Settling In

For me settling into life at Edinburgh was simple. I live at home and was initially a bit nervous that it wasn't going to be easy to meet people but it was so much easier than I thought.

After the first few days of finding out where everything was, I began to relax a lot more and enjoyed meeting new people. I just had to remember that every other first year was in the same situation! 

Work

I was lucky enough to have a job in place before I started University, it was just a case of adjusting my working hours around my studies. For me, working one day per week is the right balance between studying and working. You need to remember to give yourself some time to just chill out as well.

Student Societies

I'm part of the Sustainable Development Society, which has been a great way to meet people from other years of my course and chat about the things that interest us. I'm also keen to get involved in some of the sports societies next year as there are so many to choose from!

Student category
Undergraduate