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Course type
Certificate
Credits
60

Credits

  • Credits measure the student workload required for the successful completion of a module or qualification.
  • One credit represents about 10 hours of study over the duration of the course.
  • You are awarded credits after you have successfully completed a module.
  • For example, if you study a 60-credit module and successfully pass it, you will be awarded 60 credits.
How long it takes
1 year part-time study
Read more about how long it takes
Study method
Distance learning
Course cost
See Fees and funding
Entry requirements
Find out more about
Entry requirements

Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management

Course code: K19

Environmental management is becoming increasingly important to everyone, whether at work, in the community or at home – from complying with environmental legislation to addressing the global challenges of climate change and energy conservation. This course addresses the everyday concerns of environmental protection, natural resource management and rapidly changing environmental legislation and policy. You will explore biophysical, social, political and economic factors from local to global level, and develop the skills you need to participate creatively in the process of improving environmental performance in your own context.

  • Widens your knowledge of the environment and develops your skills in making informed decisions about environmental issues
  • Approaches environmental decision making from a systems viewpoint
  • Considers how to assess and manage sustainability in an organisation and work towards a more sustainable future

This postgraduate certificate is the same as the first half of our Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Management (E79) and the first third of our MSc in Environmental Management (F65)

Course type
Certificate
Credits
60

Credits

  • Credits measure the student workload required for the successful completion of a module or qualification.
  • One credit represents about 10 hours of study over the duration of the course.
  • You are awarded credits after you have successfully completed a module.
  • For example, if you study a 60-credit module and successfully pass it, you will be awarded 60 credits.
How long it takes
1 year part-time study
Read more about how long it takes
Study method
Distance learning
Course cost
See Fees and funding
Entry requirements
Find out more about
Entry requirements

How to register

Select the module you will study first, read the full description, and follow the instructions to register.

Modules

To gain this qualification, you need 60 credits as follows:

60 credits from:

Module Credits Next start
Making environmental decisions (T891)

This module teaches you to use a systems framework to integrate environment with other considerations when making decisions in complex environmental management situations.

See full description

Register
 30 01 Nov 2025 FINAL
Sustainable organisations: theory and practice (T892)

This module provides the background knowledge and a practical skill-set to lead the way in transforming or creating sustainable organisations of the future.

See full description

Register
 30 01 May 2025
Or, subject to the rules about excluded combinations, the discontinued modules T863 and T867.

You should note that the University’s unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 20 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you.

Learning outcomes, teaching and assessment

The learning outcomes of this qualification are described in four areas:

  • Knowledge and understanding
  • Cognitive skills
  • Practical and professional skills
  • Key skills
Read more detailed information about the learning outcomes.

Credit transfer

For this qualification, we do not allow you to count credit for study you have already done elsewhere. If you intend to study for a postgraduate diploma and also apply for credit transfer towards the diploma you are advised not to claim the postgraduate certificate as you will then not fulfil unique study requirements for the diploma.

On completion

On successfully completing this course, we’ll award you our Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management. You’ll be entitled to use the letters PG Cert Env Mgmt (Open) after your name.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the qualification-specific regulations below and the academic regulations that are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website. 

We regularly review our curriculum; therefore, the qualification described on this page – including its availability, its structure, and available modules – may change over time. If we make changes to this qualification, we’ll update this page as soon as possible. Once you’ve registered or are studying this qualification, where practicable, we’ll inform you in good time of any upcoming changes. If you’d like to know more about the circumstances in which the University might make changes to the curriculum, see our Academic Regulations or contact us. This description was last updated on 19 March 2024.

There are no entry requirements for this qualification.

Although this qualification has no entry requirements, we recommend you have:

Our free course, Succeeding in postgraduate study, helps you develop the skills and confidence to manage the requirements and demands of postgraduate study.

You’ll also need the skills and knowledge to:

  • Write technical essays and reports at a high level.
  • Carry out calculations using logarithms and the exponential function.
  • Analyse numerical data.
  • Understand and apply scientific principles in relation to chemical reactions, biological processes and energy conversion.

How long it takes

Most students study the Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management part-time, completing 60 credits over one year. Typically, this means 14 study hours each week.

You must complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Management within eight years.

Career relevance

Our environmental management programme is for people who are interested in designing, managing and participating in more effective environmental decision-making processes. For example, if you are involved in setting up or responding to environmental or integrated management systems, planning new development projects or are trying to understand or manage sustainability.

Students on our environmental management programme are drawn from industry, commerce, local government, consultancies, non-governmental organisations and communities. They include people already involved in environmental management and those who wish to be – both personally and professionally.

You can select modules that are most relevant to your interests and career aspirations as your study builds from postgraduate certificate through diploma to our MSc.

This qualification will equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to work in this expanding sector.

Careers and Employability Services have more information on how OU study can improve your employability.

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