Environmental Planning is distinctive in its concern with critically examining the spatial dimensions of interventions in social and economic life at various different scales. The dynamic interactions of the urban and urbanisation and the reconfiguration of rurality are prominent themes.  Major concerns include:

• changing demands on governance structures for cities and regions
• the nature and consequences of food production and consumption systems
• demands on rural resources
• the implications of addressing climate change for energy production, transmission and consumption.

The Environmental Planning pathway is a collaboration between the School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University and the Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire. Cardiff’s research has been consistently judged excellent across a broad range of relevant themes; it has a particular, though not exclusive, focus on urban settings. Gloucestershire’s Countryside and Community Research Institute is noted for excellent research  in relation to rural and agri-food studies. Collaboration strengthens both institutions by allowing a more focused and coherent exploration of contemporary issues that are inter-disciplinary, cut across urban and rural settings and interrogate the construction of urbanity and rurality.

Students will benefit from the many links the pathway has with various research centres, UK, European and international research projects, and non-academic organisations. For students on the ‘1+3’ route, subject specific elective modules include: Environmental Policy and Climate Change; Environmental Management; Planning for Sustainability; Environmental Behaviours-Citizens, Consumers and Communities; and Local Food and Sustainable Development. Students also benefit from a lively research culture in which both full and part-time students play a full part. Throughout the doctorate students will participate in annual away-days, of which there will be at least two (with one at Cardiff and one at the University of Gloucestershire), presenting papers or preparing posters. Students will also be encouraged to attend advanced training events at each institution, such as the Countryside and Community Research Institute winter school and advanced methods workshops, also benefiting from the involvement of relevant professional bodies in these events.