Site visit to Wicken Fen with the MSt in Climate, Environmental and Urban Policy (CEUP) students
July marked an important milestone for our Department of Land Economy colleagues, as the MSt in Climate, Environmental and Urban Policy (CEUP) programme's inaugural 2024–26 cohort completed their final residential period and became the first students to complete the full cycle of residential teaching since the programme's launch. At the same time, the 2025–27 cohort successfully completed their third residential, reaching the midpoint of their studies.
The final residential for the 2024–26 cohort centred on dissertation presentations, allowing students to showcase the results of their independent research to peers and faculty. Students also participated in a Sustainability Policy Lab led by Dr Aiora Zabala, Dr Conor Hickey and Dr Noura Wahby, exploring challenges relating to climate risk and governance, urban sustainability, and ecosystems, biodiversity and food systems.
Alongside taught sessions, the cohort engaged with a range of guest speakers and field-based learning opportunities. Highlights included contributions from Emily Farnworth, CEO of the Chapter Zero Alliance, Kelvin MacDonald, Professor Jorge Viñuales, and Professor David Howarth, Professor of Law and Public Policy all from the Department of Land Economy. Students also visited the Towards a Sponge Cambridge exhibition with Dr Zhuozhang Li, Department of Architecture, and toured the Gonville & Caius Decarbonisation Project, gaining insight into sustainability initiatives taking place across Cambridge.
Meanwhile, the 2025–27 cohort gathered in Cambridge for their third residential, combining teaching, dissertation presentations, practitioner engagement and field visits. Additional teaching was delivered by Professor Claire Colomb, Professor Harro van Asselt, and Dr Rekha Bhangaonkar, covering topics across climate policy, urban development, sustainability and research methods.
Students also heard from a diverse group of guest speakers, including Dr Deen Sharp of the London School of Economics and UNEP, Dr Najma Mohamed of the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Tom Lafford of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dr Ramit Debnath of the University of Cambridge's Centre for Human-Inspired AI, and Seabron Adamson of Charles River Associates and Cambridge Judge Business School.
A particular highlight was a visit to the Wicken Fen Peatland Restoration Project, where students met Ellis Selway, Peatland Restoration Project Manager, and explored the role of peatland restoration within wider climate mitigation, biodiversity and land-use strategies.
For the Department of Land Economy, the successful completion of the fifth residential by the inaugural cohort represents an important milestone in the development of the MSt CEUP. The programme was designed to bring together professionals from around the world to engage with the latest thinking on climate, environmental and urban policy through an interdisciplinary, rigorous curriculum with practical engagement, to address some of the most pressing sustainability challenges of our time.
To find out more about the MSt in Climate, Environmental and Urban Policy, see here.
This article was published in full here:
https://www.landecon.cam.ac.uk/news/milestone-summer-mst-climate-environmental-and-urban-policy