Political Science: specialization Global Environmental Governance

Global Environmental Governance

Global Environmental Governance is one of the greatest challenges facing humankind today. The perennial question is how co-evolving and unequal societies can coordinate with one another to protect their often shared and deeply interrelated natural environment.

"The faculty of Social Sciences at the VU is the place of academic and career opportunities. As a Georgian student I have been granted the full VU scholarship to undertake Masters programme in Political Science. During class excursion to Brussels organized by Prof. dr. Ben Crum, we met with the EU officials which helped me during my MSc thesis writing and career search for the graduates. Looking back, living in Amsterdam has been a great experience."
Nino Kereselidze, Master’s student in Political Science 2008- 2009


Humans now influence all biological and physical systems on the planet. Almost no species, no land area, no part of the oceans has remained unaffected by the expansion of the human species. Scientists today see mounting evidence that the entire Earth system now operates well outside the normal state exhibited over the past 500,000 years, and that human activity is generating change that extends well beyond natural variability - in some cases, alarmingly so - and at rates that continue to accelerate.

Increasingly, traditional approaches towards solving global environmental problems (in particular international treaties and conventions) have been complemented and in some cases substituted by novel arrangements that are private and sometimes deliberately exclude the nation state. In addition, global environmental governance is characterised by the involvement of a host of non-state actors such as transnational corporations (TNCs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), networks of scientists and international organizations that attempt to govern global environmental problems. 

Seeking to understand these transformations and the way they reach beyond the confines of the nation state and the international system lies at the heart of the Political Science Master’s programme: specialization Global Environmental Governance.

This programme has been approved by the NVAO, the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders. The legally recognized title Master of Science (MSc) in Political Science is awarded to those who complete it successfully.

Contact: info@fsw.vu.nl(Dutch students)
Contact: admission@fsw.vu.nl (International students)
Download the brochure
Order the brochure


Political Science is a full-time study and starts in September 2009.