The course is run in co-operation with the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture at the Robert Gordon University which allows students to access a wider range of expertise and facilities, including an extensive library and the resources of the Heritage Unit. The University library has an official European Documentation Centre and is therefore well supplied with relevant material. Those with other equivalent qualifications, notably those with practical experience, are welcome to apply. In addition, students take a further Stream Core comprising the Theory and Practice of European Rural Development. Thereafter, students must take three specialist electives from a wide range available including European Integration, Nordic Politics II, a European Language, Marketing, Sustainable Business Management, Remote Sensing, Environmental Impact Assessment, Cost Benefit Analysis, Sustainable Tourism, Landscape Planning.
All students also undertake project and field work.
All students studying for the Masters degree must prepare a dissertation, which may be based on organised work experience with an approved agency, or on individual original research. A programme of supplementary lectures and seminars from a wide range of guest speakers is also organised for those taking this course. This stream aims to provide a focus on natural resource planning in the rural context. It is designed to produce professionals capable of articulating and implementing more environmentally sustainable forms of rural living in the face of increasing demands from agriculture, forestry, recreation and other activities on the natural resource base. Building upon both the principles which govern the functioning of natural ecosystems and the theoretical underpinnings of contemporary rural development issues, the curriculum moves on to encompass the nature of environmental policy at different spatial scales and in different sectoral contexts.