Master's in Leadership for Sustainability (One-Year)

Malmo University is a public university in Malmo, Sweden. It was founded in 1998 and is one of the youngest universities in Sweden. The university has over 25,000 students and 3,000 staff members. It offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs in the fields of humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and law. Malmo University is ranked #701-800 in the QS World University Rankings 2024. It is also a member of the European University Association.

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: that sustainability requires new forms of organising, especially when it comes to a project-based organisation involving diverse stakeholders; that organising and leading sustainability requires new and diverse leading and organising skills, understanding and knowledge for managers and leaders of sustainable projects; that organising and leading sustainability require a new way of thinking of sustainability within and between organisations. Current research on social entrepreneurship and social innovation can reveal new methods and strategies with regards to this; and that methodological and methodical knowledge and understanding are needed to enable leaders to make sustainable decisions. 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.