MA Economics for Transition - achieving low carbon, high well-being, resilient economies

Schumacher College is the first in the world to offer a full-time one-year postgraduate programme in Economics for Transition. The programme has been developed in association with the new economics foundation and the Transition Network and is offered through the Business School at the University of Plymouth.

Applications open for 2012/13 – please apply before 28 February 2012
From 2012/13 the MA Economics for Transition will include some new features to incorporate additional study options and a part-time route, alongside PGDip and PGCert awards.

Economics for Transition is about creating an economic system fit for the ecological, social, economic and spiritual challenges of the 21st century as we make the great transition to low carbon, high well-being and resilient economies.
As the world struggles to recover from the most severe and synchronised downturn since the Great Depression, the reputation of economists has rarely been lower. For many, economics was a big part of the problem and so cannot be part of any solution.

New Economics Foundation

E.F. Schumacher was a pioneering economist who, in 1973, set out a new approach that put values and compassion, people and planet, at the centre of our economic system. To this day, Schumacher is known as the grandfather of the new economics who has inspired a generation of leading thinkers, practising economists and environmental and social activists who have been growing the shoots of the new economy ever since. Now is the time to make these visible and to co-create the great transition towards low-carbon, high well-being, resilient economies.

Economics for Transition

Never has there been a more important time for a new approach to economics.
There is an urgent need for a radical rethink of our economic system. We need a new model that recognises the challenges we face now, rather than following the thinking from previous centuries.

This model would mitigate the impacts and adapt to the crises converging on our society which include climate change, the peaking in fossil fuel energy supplies, financial instability, food security and poverty. It would recognise the absolute need for equity and social justice right at its heart. For 20 years, key thinkers and practitioners have been developing alternative economic ideas, models and experiments that were once considered radical and marginal.

Since 1991, Schumacher College has been pioneering this radical new thinking in economics, attracting the leading teachers, practitioners and activists from across the globe. We have inspired, supported and led thousands of organisations and individuals from many different countries in their quest to achieve a more sustainable and equitable world.

In 2011, in response to the state of global economics, we ran our first MA in Economics for Transition in association with the New Economics Foundation, the Transition Network and the Business School at the University of Plymouth.
This partnership offers you an unparalleled opportunity to learn from the best of alternative thinking available globally.

Coupled with an unrivalled visiting faculty of teachers and practitioners from across the world, you have a unique chance to join those at the forefront of new economic thinking.

We are delighted to receive your applications whether you are coming from an undergraduate degree, taking time-out to study mid-career or wanting an opportunity to retrain in a subject area that is of huge importance to our global economic future and well-being.

We are looking for enthusiastic agents of change who are ready to co-create a new economy in practice. We are looking for those prepared to take a risk and stand on the cutting-edge of new thinking in this area.

For more information about this MA programme visit the Schumacher College website