Master in Human Geography and Sustainable Development

Master in Human Geography and Sustainable Development is one of 10 English-taught Sustainable Development programmes at Master's Degree level in the register, offered by 7 institutions. 10 are recorded as free for EU, EEA and Swiss students.

This master's at the University of Bergen looks at sustainability through human geography: how people, nature and society interact, and why some places manage environmental and social change better than others. The programme takes 17 students each autumn and is taught in English.

What you study

The programme covers green restructuring of industries in urban and rural areas, urban and rural governance and planning, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental degradation and natural hazards, global development, conflict and migration, and natural resource management, land use and environmental governance. You build skills in critical thinking, analysis and academic writing, and you learn to plan and carry out the collection and analysis of empirical data for your thesis. You also learn to write a research report within given time and resource limits.

How the programme is organised

The first year is 60 ECTS of coursework. In the first semester you take one compulsory course, GEO319 Theory of Science and Research Design for Physical and Environmental Geographers (10 ECTS), and choose two from GEO313 Field and Laboratory Methods in Physical Geography, GEO318 Hydrology, Groundwater and Water-Related Geohazards, and GEO330 Theories of Sustainable Land Use. In the second semester you choose three from GEO316 Practical Skills in Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis, GEO317 Special Topics in Geography and GEO341 Master Level Field Course in Physical Geography. Courses at UNIS, the Department of Earth Science, the Department of Biological Sciences or other institutions may be approved in advance by the Department of Geography. You can also go on exchange in the second semester, with Iceland, the UK, Sweden and Germany among the options; the application deadline is 25 August in the first semester.

Fieldwork happens at the end of the first year, in Norway or abroad, and usually lasts 4 to 8 weeks. The third and fourth semesters are for any lab work and for writing your 60 ECTS master's thesis, GEO350, with submission on 1 June in the fourth semester. Three milestones structure the work: a project description presentation in December, a presentation of theory, research design and fieldwork plans in May, and a poster presentation of data, findings and methodology in November. Teaching comes as lectures, seminar groups, laboratory and practical exercises, field courses and fieldwork, with plenty of time left for self-study and thesis writing.

Who it suits

You need a bachelor's degree of at least three years (180 ECTS) and a minimum average grade of Norwegian C (3.0) or the equivalent. A UiB geography bachelor's with a specialisation in human geography and sustainable development qualifies. Other UiB social science degrees may qualify with at least 45 ECTS in human geography, for example GEO124, GEO125, GEO131, GEO223 or GEO224, GEO283 and GEO292. Qualifying degrees from elsewhere include geography at NTNU, human geography at UiO, urban planning and communication and global development studies at UiA, landscape planning with landscape architecture at HVL, international environment and development studies and urban and regional planning at NMBU, geography and urban planning at Nord University, and urban and regional planning at UiT. Other degrees may qualify with at least 45 credits of human geography or equivalent in a relevant social science subject such as environment and development studies, management of natural resources, urban and regional development and planning, or political ecology. The department also considers other professional backgrounds.

Admission, language and next steps

Teaching is in English. Deadlines are 1 December for applicants with citizenship outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, 1 March for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, and 15 April for applicants residing in Norway and Nordic citizens. You apply through Søknadsweb. Students with citizenship from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland must pay tuition fees, though some applicants may be exempted. Check the programme page for the full rules and how to apply. The department holds an information meeting in Teams on 5 November, 15:00-16:00.

Master’s applications go straight to University of Bergen, not through the national admission service (NUCAS). Study in Norway states that you need a bachelor’s degree comparable to a Norwegian bachelor’s degree (180 ECTS), including courses equal to at least one and a half years of full-time study relevant to the programme. The institution lists its deadline as: Applicants from EU/EEA/EFTA: 1 March Applicants from outside of the EU/EEA/EFTA: 1 December. The register shows 1 December 2026 as a deadline date for this programme. Deadlines are set by each institution for each programme, so confirm yours. Entry requirements and language tests are also set by the institution, so start from the official programme page. Our guides cover tuition fees, study permits and housing.