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This multidisciplinary one-year master’s programme provides students with an understanding of organisation and leadership theory in the context of sustainability. Students will acquire a critical understanding of sustainable development and sustainability leadership. Furthermore, they will learn research methods for exploring and analysing sustainable challenges using leadership and organisation theory. This education provides a foundation for those seeking to lead and/or manage sustainable initiatives, in research and practice, that bring about change in the workplace, community and the world.
The master’s degree programme is grounded in four core premises:
Based on these four premises, the programme bridges the fields of organisation theory, leadership, project management, social innovation and social entrepreneurship, so that new ways of organising and leading sustainability can be created. This will enable students to rethink common perceptions of leadership and organisational development.
In this programme, students are taught to reflect upon organisational and leadership challenges linked to organisational development and sustainability. This programme provides students with knowledge and critical understanding of current research in the fields of leadership and organisation, project management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in the context of sustainability and sustainable development.
This master's programme is also focused on action and doing via diverse projects and thesis work. This is a way to develop students’ professional, conceptual and interpersonal skills so that as future sustainable leaders and social entrepreneurs, they will drive sustainable changes and have the capacity to make informed decisions about organisational and leadership issues in the management of sustainable organisations and projects.
Lectures, seminars, and workshop enable interaction in small and large classroom settings. Group work is used to generate discussions about sustainability, especially while doing case studies. Study visits and guest lectures connect learning with practice. Individual papers, individual studies and thesis work focus on in-depth knowledge and mastery of specific subjects.
This programme lays a solid foundation for those seeking to work as key players in project management and organisational development environments, and where the broader issues of societal development are important. The skills acquired during the programme will be relevant for managers in local, national and international governmental bodies, the private and non-profit sector and for consultancy work.
The entrepreneurial content of the course is designed to stimulate and encourage students to initiate projects, businesses or organisations with the purpose of working towards sustainable development.
Here you can find the entry requirements, as well as how the available study places are distributed between applicants in the selection.
Bachelor´s degree, consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent of Swedish secondary school English 6.
Applicants are selected in order according to precedence from submitted three-part supporting document.
It is recommended that you submit a supporting document with your application to this programme. If you meet the eligibility criteria but do not submit a supporting document, you may only be considered for admission if places are available.
To complete your application with the supporting document, follow the steps below:
You find the supporting document here during the application rounds.
The supporting document must be uploaded no later than:
Supporting document submitted after these dates will not be accepted.
If the programme is open for late applications, ranking will only be based on application date. Do not submit the supporting document if you apply after 15 April.
You can apply to the programme if you are in your final year of bachelor’s studies and will receive your diploma before the programme starts. To apply you must follow specific instructions.
How to apply in your final year of bachelor’s studies (Universityadmissions.se)
From the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, where she was born and raised into a family of nomadic camel herders, Chantsalnyam Luvsandorj has come a long way, in both miles travelled and personal development. And part of that journey included completing the Leadership for Sustainability Master’s Programme at...
From the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, where she was born and raised into a family of nomadic camel herders, Chantsalnyam Luvsandorj has come a long way, in both miles travelled and personal development. And part of that journey included completing the Leadership for Sustainability Master’s Programme at Malmö University.
She is now back in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where she is trying to put in to practise what she learned from her education in the face of a tsunami of acute societal issues.
She moved to Malmö, along with her husband and two children, “no big deal when you come from a nomadic background”. And headed back to her native country after graduating. She has now held a number of roles with the Ulaanbaatar Green Affordable Housing and Resilient Urban Renewal Sector Project, where she currently supports, along with her team, the coordination of the project.
Its aim is to deliver green and affordable housing in the ger areas – districts located on hills and mountains surrounding the city – which suffer from poor infrastructure, extreme pollution, and a total lack of basic services, such as heating and running water.
“The city expanded rapidly over the last twenty to thirty years when people moved there for economic reasons. The sudden influx put huge strain on the infrastructures of the city. Homes are not connected to the heating, water or sewer systems. This means they are often heated by coal fires creating pollution issues.
“The city is the coldest capital city in the world and where half the country’s population lives. In the winter temperatures are around minus 30c and coal is the usual fuel, but people have to burn whatever they can find to stay warm,” explains Chantsalnyam.
She believes her education at Malmö University was pivotal to her getting the role she now has. The master’s programme was her first opportunity to study in English which opened up the English-speaking job market. The programme’s project management and the sustainability courses have proved to be core skills she now utilises on a daily basis.
Chantsalnyam describes the housing project, funded by the Asian Development Bank and Green Climate Fund, as challenging but exciting in a city with myriad issues.
“There is heavy traffic, because the public transport is not good, so we are reliant on individual cars. The city is not equipped enough to monitor the quality of the air and cancer rates are rising rapidly. It feels like we are in crisis mode.”
A recent disaster encompasses many of the city’s issues: poor infrastructure, substandard housing and increasing snowfall caused by climate change. A truck carrying 60 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas was hit by a jeep on icy roads which led to three huge explosions. As a result, an apartment block was destroyed and three firefighters were killed, with many others injured.
“It’s the situation we see because nothing is made or designed to withstand that. What was an accident became a disaster. With the heavy pollution and health situation, people are very worried about the future of the country. I am happy to be given the opportunity to improve the situation, but we are too small to address the problem. We need to persevere and encourage more civic activism and civic engagement,” she explains.
Originally from Australia, Samantha Seljak moved to Sweden to study the master’s programme in Leadership for Sustainability. Today, she manages her own brand and wants to help other businesses become truly sustainable.
Originally from Australia, Samantha Seljak moved to Sweden to study the master’s programme in Leadership for Sustainability. Today, she manages her own brand and wants to help other businesses become truly sustainable.
“I was looking to do a master’s overseas, and found that this programme was at the forefront when it comes to how sustainability interlinks with businesses and initiatives today, and I was very attracted to it for that reason,“ she explains.
Today Samantha is managing the company Seljak Brand, together with her sister. They are dedicated to sustainability and the philosophy of the ‘circular economy’. The first product they have developed is a blanket made out of recycled merino wool.
“The product uses offcuts from production, so we are basically using waste as a resource and have a collecting scheme so that the blankets never end up in a landfill; we have managed to close the loop entirely.”
“My master’s studies have been really good for Seljak Brand, it has really enabled me to understand the value of consulting as a leadership professional, and how my brand can offer more than just products. And as the programme includes a major in leadership and organisation, the skills and understanding you gain are applicable in any workplace you go to.”
The master’s programme offers insight into leadership and management of projects, companies and initiatives, all with a sustainability focus. It has a holistic approach, where business is always considered from perspectives other than financial. This ensures environmental considerations are taken into account. In this way, the programme covers the basis of changing business environments, and uses business as a tool to benefit society.
“The 90s and 00s corporate social responsibility model is being phased out in exchange for true sustainability measures. This programme was great at delving into what those are and the tools you need to be able to move forward, no matter if you are working for a company, starting your own business or working in a non-profit environment,” Samantha adds.
