Learning to make a better world
Welcome to the website of the Bulmer Foundation’s Masters in Sustainable Development Advocacy, validated by the University of Worcester. This is a Masters programme with a difference - a postgraduate degree that will help you learn how to build a more sustainable future, as well as explore ideas of what that future might look like.
So what is sustainable development? Well, there isn’t one answer to that question but broadly speaking it’s development that means we can live well and healthily without damaging the chance for our children and grandchildren to live well and healthily too.
So, it’s about energy, financial systems, food production and business, but also about justice, equity and our relationship with each other and with nature.
And what about advocacy? This Masters has been designed to give you the tools, skills and knowledge to apply the thinking and principles around sustainable development to actions in your work and personal life. All sectors of the community need to make changes together if we are going to move to a more sustainable society, so you are going to need the knowledge, communication and persuasive skills to help make that happen.
This is no ordinary Masters. The programme is uniquely experiential in approach, which means you’ll often be learning by doing, rather than sitting in a classroom. With three month-long placements in different kinds of organisations, a self-directed dissertation project, and a team task, you’ll be working on real-life issues in real-world settings, whilst making contacts and building networks. So at the end of the programme, you will be ready and well placed to begin working at the cutting edge of the debate.
To find out more about the programme, browse through the site using the navigation on the left. Detailed information about the course is in ‘The programme’ section. In The Hub you’ll find some of our students’ papers as well as regional events and activities, and you can contribute your ideas here too. If you’re a business or organisation interested in our work, or interested in offering a placement, you can find out more on the ‘Partners’ page. Our Blog will keep you up to date with what's happening in the programme.
For more information please get in touch; you can find our contact details at the bottom of each page.
'The placement component and its assignments showcase exemplary practice. No other course in the UK provides such a comprehensive approach to the development of professional learning outcomes'
Daniella Tilbury, Professor of Sustainable Development, University of Gloucestershire, Former External Examiner to the MA SDA
About the Bulmer Foundation
The Bulmer Foundation is an independent sustainable development charity, established in 2001 by the Bulmer family and HP Bulmer Ltd, as part of their commitment to sustainable development in Herefordshire. In 2003 Bulmers was acquired by Scottish and Newcastle plc, who were then in turn acquired in 2008 by Heineken.
Heineken have kindly continued to provide financial sponsorship and increased support and encouragement to the Foundation.
Our mission is to enable and demonstrate sustainable development in conjunction with a fundamental shift in our human understanding and values, founded on the belief that current economic, environmental and social problems cannot be resolved by the attitudes and beliefs that created them.
Our aim is to raise awareness of the need for change and to help deliver that change. This is being done through the promotion and demonstration of more sustainable ways of meeting human needs. Whilst the demonstration projects are located primarily in Herefordshire, their impact will reach beyond the county border. As well as running this Masters programme, we run projects into a number of areas such as sustainable land use, food production, and health. You can find out more about the Foundation by visiting the website.