University of Florida
AC-4: Graduate Program

The three-semester master’s degree program in Sustainable Design (MSD) gives you the interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and confidence to be a leader in the Sustainability Revolution. The program features a curriculum taught by core faculty from all five of the college’s programs-architecture, building construction, interior design, landscape architecture and urban & regional planning and is offered in a low-residency-online format or traditional on campus format.

Sustainability in the design, construction and planning of the built environment is the connecting thread between all of the professional programs in our College, and a centerpiece of the University of Florida’s strategic plan. We are recognized nationally and internationally as one of the leading public institutions teaching, researching and providing consulting in sustainability. Our College’s MSD program harnesses the rich and diverse expertise of our faculty around a common objective.

We guarantee to students in this program an intensive exposure to the best in sustainable design thinking from an international vantage point, the opportunity to explore in depth their own areas of research, and the chance to become a graduate of the University of Florida-one of the world’s great public research universities. Our low-residency online format means that you do not need to leave your job or place of residence to get some of the highest quality instruction available. Using advanced interactive technology, and intensive live workshop sessions, we bring the sustainable design program directly to you regardless of where you live. We look forward to your participation in this unique, challenging and extremely rewarding endeavor

Environmental Planning is the application of planning theory and tools to achieve environmental goals, including ecological preservation and restoration, sustainable resource use, environmental health, and natural hazards mitigation. Environmental Planning primarily addresses environmental issues at the local and regional levels, but it requires an understanding across all scales, from site to global. Environmental Planning is highly interdisciplinary, incorporating the planning theory and tools rooted in spatial analysis and design, social and policy sciences, science of the built environment and engineering, environmental science and natural resource management, and sustainability. As with Urban and Regional Planning more generally, Environmental Planning encompasses many styles of planning, including technical analysis, design, facilitation, advocacy, and administration. Students also have the option to pursue a College of DCP Interdisciplinary Concentration and Certificate in Sustainable Design (ICCSD).

Although tropical and sub-tropical countries contain some of the most diverse and resource rich environments, they also face the most significant development challenges. Achieving sustainable development in these countries will require major advances against hunger, poverty and disease while ensuring the protection of natural resources. Increasingly, making these advances will depend on practitioners who are able to address development challenges holistically. The University of Florida MDP program is part of the Global MDP Association, which consists of 26 MDP programs in 19 countries around the world. Initiated with the generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the MDP degree is focused on training development practitioners who are able to address development challenges facing poor, resource rich communities in innovative ways. The UF MDP bridges the Natural, Social and Health sciences and Management skills.

Masters and PhD Programs - Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and the Environment - http://www.essie.ufl.edu/student_resources/admissions/graduate/ - The Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment (ESSIE) is comprised of two departments - the Department of Civil, Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering and Environmental Engineering Sciences. Research areas include air resources, coastal and oceanographic engineering, construction engineering, environmental nanotechnology, geosystems engineering, materials and pavements, public works, structural engineering, systems ecology and ecological engineering, transportation engineering, and water systems.

This concentration allows students to become proficient in one or more of the following areas: sustainable architecture, sustainable construction, sustainable interior design, sustainable landscape architecture, or sustainable urban planning.

By achieving a Certificate in Sustainable Construction, students will earn a credential that indicates that they have accomplished specialized, high quality study in the field of International Construction Management. Courses include: Principles of International Sustainable Construction, Construction Ecology and Metabolism, and High Performance Green Building. Applicants for the certificate program are required to have a bachelor’s degree and construction experience.

The Sustainable Engineering certificate consists of 3 graduate courses, which can be completed in one year. Courses are structured for students and working professionals with an engineering or science undergraduate background that want to receive graduate level continuing education in Sustainable Engineering. Topics covered include: environmental attributes in process and design, opportunities for pollution prevention and waste minimization in products, life cycle assessments, corporate environmental management, environmental ethics, resources, laws, economics, environmental accounting, and materials selection for sustainability.

Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law - http://www.law.ufl.edu/academics/concentration/elul/elul-certificate - In today’s complex legal practice, lawyers increasingly must specialize. Through the Environmental and Land Use Law Certificate Program, students can graduate from law school with a valuable credential that indicates both concentration and accomplishment in these two fields. Certificate requirements were developed by faculty in consultation with an advisory board comprised of leading practitioners from private firms, government agencies and non-profit organizations. It is a focused and rigorous program designed to prepare new lawyers to work in these specialized fields and assume responsibility quickly. Certificate Program students receive tailored academic advisement and career development guidance from Environmental & Land Use Law Program Faculty.