People, policy and planning major

Program highlights

• Develop an expertise in policy development and analysis, management planning, social, economic and political contexts of environmental management including stakeholder and rightsholder values and social science-based public engagement tools.
  
  
• An introduction to environmental management tools including social, economic and environmental indicator identification and measurement, environmental risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, lifecycle assessment and environmental certification.
  
  
• Gain mastery of state-of-the-art environmental monitoring technologies, GIS/GPS technology, statistical analysis, environmental modeling and others.
  
  
• Become an environmental professional in environmental management and be prepared for a career in a fast-growing sector in Canada.

Understand environmental and human systems

Environmental management involves managing both the biophysical environment (i.e., water, trees, soil and animals) but also the socioeconomic and political environment. Most environmental problems are “people problems” and the people, policy and planning major focuses on the human dimensions of environment and natural resource stewardship and management.

This includes human causes of environmental problems, as well as the creation of regulations, rules, norms and incentives designed to solve or reduce environmental problems. The ultimate goal of this management is to balance human needs with ecosystem health, resilience and sustainability.

To meet these environmental management and stewardship goals, students require fundamental knowledge of environmental and human systems, as well as an in-depth understanding of the sensitivity of one on the other.

We train students to analyze the environmental risks and impacts of human activities, as well as develop and implement strategies that meet competing and often conflicting objectives.

Our people, policy and planning major will help you understand environmental and human systems (and their interactions) through courses in ecology, sociology, hydrology, political science and policy, climatology, economics, soil chemistry, biodiversity and more.

It will give you tools to understand and analyze the values that underlie environmental management. Students will come to understand environmental risks and impacts of human activities through training in environmental management tools such as environmental indicator identification and measurement, environmental risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, lifecycle assessment, environmental planning and stakeholder engagement.

These tools are supported with state-of-the-art environmental monitoring tools and technologies, GIS/GPS technology, statistical analysis, modelling, and others to ensure you have the expertise to excel in your career as an environmental professional in environmental management.

As with all majors of the BScEM degree program, you will integrate your knowledge with critical thinking and structured problem solving to help you design management plans that meet social, environmental and economic objectives. Your learning will take place indoors and outdoors, in classrooms, laboratories and a field camp.

A career in the making

You will also undertake projects involving research, planning, and implementation for real-world clients such as, municipalities, provincial and federal government agencies and environmental non-government organizations.

You will be eligible to apply for the Environmental Professional in Training (EPt) designation through ECO Canada. This will allow you to be recognized and employed by organizations in the environment and natural resources sector across Canada.

People, policy, and planning students follow a course map, which defines the course requirements taken in each year.

• Transfer into the BScEM program from another college or university