Environmental Governance and Adaptation to Climate Change

What will you learn? You will get the knowledge and skills essential to succeed in environment and climate careers in public and private sectors, or within academia. Courses offered to prepare students as future professionals and leaders include Pollutants in environment and ecotoxicology; Environmental management and policy; Atmospheric and climate sciences; Energy flow and material cycles; Wastewater and sludge treatment technologies; Mineral resources of future and mining technologies; Geospatial analysis with Python and R; Introduction to programming, among many others. As a Master-level student, you can successfully complete your mandatory and elective courses during the first three of all four semesters. You can reserve your fourth and very last semester for your thesis, in which you go deep into your research topic guided by your supervisor at any, or both, of the two universities. To see the detailed course distribution over the four semesters please visit ÕIS link opens in new page . How will you gain practical experience? The degree program includes fully practical courses such as Practical Course in Environmental Biotechnology and Ecotechnology; Practical Training in Environmental Monitoring and Sampling; Practical Training in Ecological Engineering; and Estonian Nature and Cultural Landscapes. These courses are designed for participants to get hands-on experience in different departments in the field of environment. Generally, that involves lab work or field work or both. In the end, participants write an academic report, as guided by the course instructor, and may also present in front of class. Participants get to scientifically monitor, collect empirical evidence (like soil and water samples) and report their findings. Be it identifying tree species, measuring tree heights/age and vegetation sampling in a forest, or root analysis and DNA testing inside a lab. Special emphasis is placed on developing report-writing and public-speaking skills among participants. Courses like Wastewater Treatment and Solid Waste Management, which mostly demand on-desk learning inside and outside class, also include field trips built in into their respective course plan. Students get to visit Tartu’s sewage treatment and recycling facilities as part of their studies to get a real feel of how things are managed in the real world. Virtual tours of University of Tartu link opens in new page ’s and Estonian University of Life Sciences link opens in new page ’ campuses are available online.

Tuition

€5,600

Living costs€880 a month in Tartu, rent included

€10,560

Total per year

€16,160 EUR

Living costs from SiT estimate from livingcost.org city data (Nov 2026), converted from USD at the ECB reference rate of 30 Oct 2026 (1 EUR = 1.1172 USD)

Typical requirements in Estonia for this degree level. Your advisor gives you the final list.

• A completed qualification that gives access to Master's Degree study.
• Academic transcripts and any programme-specific assessment the institution asks for.
• Your advisor checks the final requirements for your education system and intake.

Taught in English.

Prepare for and book LanguageCert Academic with SIT Connect

A typical checklist for this degree level. Your advisor gives you the final list.

The central catalogue records this programme as accredited.