Environmental Studies

The Master's degree programme in Environmental Studies is open to graduates of social science and natural science bachelor's (and master's) programmes dealing with environmental issues and related fields. We offer these students a broad overview of the links between society and the natural world, and the ability to reflect on (not only) their initial positions on environmental and nature conservation issues. Thus, during the two-year full-time course of study, we give substantial attention to the social, economic, political, legal, philosophical, historical, religious and other contexts of environmental issues.

In addition, the study further deepens students' interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies in connection with the Bachelor's degree. It prepares them to manage small and larger teams, to reflect on successes and failures, and to change strategies of approach to problem solving based on this reflection.

A major emphasis is then placed on the ability to link social science and natural science approaches to environmental problems and the ability to evaluate the quality of information coming from both sides of the scientific spectrum about a chosen problem.

The master's study is divided into study blocks - focuses - for clarity. The first block consists of compulsory courses that every student must take, regardless of his or her field of study. As an example, we can mention extension methodological courses (Quantitative Research in Environmental Studies, Qualitative Research in Environmental Studies, etc.) or courses introducing normative issues of environmental issues (Environmental Ethics II, Environmental History). The other three blocks bring together thematically oriented compulsory elective courses so that their completion enables the student to have a good orientation in such a more narrowly oriented topic. These are:

A) Socio-ecological economics (this field of study is related to the Bc. field of Social-Ecological Entrepreneurship)

B) Society and Environmental Education (this specialization is suitable for students interested in actively influencing society through education, training and communication of environmental issues in civic associations, public administration or other types of organizations)

C) Culture & Nature

All three blocks are optional. Their main aim is to enable students to better orient themselves in the different areas of scientific and teaching focus of the department and its study programmes. In addition, we also offer compulsory electives outside these three areas of focus.

After successfully completing his/her studies the graduate is able to:

• Graduates obtain a comprehensive university education in the field of environmental studies, enabling them to apply their skills in the public, non-profit and private sectors. They will be capable of analyzing specific environmental problems.
• Graduates will deepen their knowledge gained in the bachelor's degree program, especially in the areas of environmental and ecological economics, sociology, philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, psychology, history and selected disciplines of the natural s
• Graduates will acquire a detailed knowledge of the methodology of empirical environmental sciences and the methodology of writing a final thesis. On the basis of their own choice, they will obtain either a thorough knowledge of qualitative or quantit
• Graduates will acquire the comprehensive abilities to conduct a reflective scientific work using the principles involved in working with scientific texts, to evaluate the quality of scientific texts and to interpret their findings. Graduates will als
• Graduates will deepen their competences relating to teamwork, to a systematic approach to problem-solving and to critical thinking; they will also develop their analytical skills and their ability to creatively solve problems.

The aim of the study program is to prepare university-educated professionals capable of reflecting on environmental issues in their work, as well as in the role of future managers, especially in the communication of environmental topics in the fields of sociology, economics and education. These professionals and managers will have knowledge of both the scientific context and social conditionality of environmental issues. As a result, they will be prepared to successfully pursue employment in a relatively wide range of organizations addressing environmental issues from a variety of perspectives: from working in government and autonomous authorities, to conducting environmentally-oriented entrepreneurial activities and holding positions in environmental NGOs and civil society organizations.

The aim of the internship is to enable students to become acquainted with the nature and organization of an institution and, through the content, activities and selected projects, to obtain a realistic idea of possible future employment, as well as to enable students to use their acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.

The internship is compulsory and is enrolled as the course Professional Internship HEN408. The student must complete a minimum of 100 hours of work in a selected institution. The internship can be done either regularly during the semester, or in a continuous block of at least 2.5 weeks (as agreed with the institution where the work is done). Institutions in which the internship is taking place should be linked to the environmental area and may be in either the state (e.g. municipal or regional authority, research institution, Protected Landscape Area), or non-governmental sectors (e.g. non-governmental environmental organization, environmentally-oriented enterprise, farm).

The diploma thesis in the Environmental Studies program is theoretical, comprehensive, or empirical. The work deals with the humanities and social science aspects of environmental issues, with possible overlap with the natural sciences. Students should demonstrate the ability to work critically with scholarly texts, to develop the concepts and theories found in them, to find relevant answers to the given question, and to apply appropriate methodology in the elaboration of empirical work. The length of the work is 18,000 - 29,000 words of basic text, which means the actual body of the work, including notes, but excluding the bibliography, attachments, abstract and table of contents. Guidelines for final state examinations and the elaboration of the diploma thesis are regulated by FSS Directive No. 5/2024 State Final Examinations, Final Theses and their Defences.

If graduates wish to continue their studies at the doctoral level, our department also offers further education possibilities. For a decade, there has been a Ph.D. study program at our department, which is now accredited as an independent program under the title Environmental Studies. As in the master's degree program, there is the possibility (but not obligation) to study in three different fields – Environmental Aspects of the City and Landscape, Pro-environmental Behaviour and Action, and Environmental Economics.

The doctoral study program is primarily aimed at graduates in the academic sphere, but also applies to management in state and non-governmental institutions and organizations. Preparation at the master's level allows graduates to continue their doctoral studies in other departments of the faculty, as well as other humanities-oriented faculties and specializations.