Mobility-based programme gets green light

Glasgow Caledonian’s bid to jointly host a climate-themed Master’s programme with some of Europe’s top universities has been successful.

GCU has secured 4.4million euros to host an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme on Urban Climate and Sustainability with LAB University of Applied Sciences, Finland; University of Huelva, Spain; and Dresden University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

The grant will fund 88 postgraduate scholarships until 2024, with the programme split across all four universities. The consortium also includes five academic associate partners from Japan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil, plus 11 local authority and public/private sector bodies which will help facilitate problem-based learning and industry-relevant projects in a work placement-setting.

The successful bid team was led by Professor Rohinton Emmanuel, a Director of GCU’s BEAM Centre, along with Dr Caroline Gallagher and Dr Craig Thomson.

Professor Emmanuel said: “This mobility-based programme is aimed at both existing urban professionals, as well as those with multidisciplinary environmental backgrounds, and will create professional pathways in leading sustainable urban climate change. It will integrate the science of nature-based solutions as the approach to mitigation, with circular economy as the driver for urban planning, and sustainability leadership as the management goal.”