Resolutions for 2012, Forum style

Got the new year blues? Wondering how to make all your best-laid resolutions a reality? If you, or someone you know, has graduated recently and is interested in sustainable development, we might just be able to help, through a Masters with Forum for the Future.

1. Learn Something New
Alongside the exciting projects that Forum delivers with many well-known organisations, we share our learning through a Masters programme in Leadership for Sustainable Development. Through it, we skill up future leaders so that they have the expertise and confidence to create change in any organisational setting.

2. Make New Friends
The Masters programme takes 12 students each year for 11 intensive months of study, work placements and group projects. By the end of the year students have forged extremely strong bonds with their peers and created friends for life (a few have even got married!). They also build up many useful contacts through their work placements, as well as becoming part of the strong alumni network, which opens up fantastic opportunities for job-hunting and professional networking.

3. Eat More Healthily
As part of Forum’s new strategy on Systems Innovation, we are beginning to explore ways to tackle our unsustainable Food system. Students spend 6 weeks working on food-related projects which could involve anything from helping design city wide behaviour change on food waste for residents, to working with a multinational food retailer on their sustainable procurement strategy.

4. Get Out of Debt
Forum’s work also focuses on creating a more sustainable Finance system through financial models that drive investment towards sustainable activities. Students discover why the credit crunch and banking crisis happened, whilst exploring new financial models. Lectures and workshops are delivered by experts such as Professors Paul Ekins and Tim Jackson, and are followed by work placements in leading financial institutions.

5. Quit Smoking / Get Active
OK, so this is perhaps the most tenuous link, but it’s all about ENERGY! That’s right, it’s Forum’s third key system. From ditching the dirty, fossil fuel polluters to encouraging the creation of ‘clean green’ energy supplies and smart grid technology, Forum is keen to accelerate the change and scale up sustainable heat, electricity and transport solutions. Students learn about the pros and cons of nuclear power and biofuels amongst other topics, ahead of undertaking practical projects with Forum’s partner organisations.

6. Get a better job
With the ongoing recession and gloomy employment predictions for 2012 there’s no better time to buck the trend by improving your job prospects. Undertaking a highly-regarded work-based degree course could be the answer. Our MA course is run in partnership with Middlesex University.

In recent years, nearly all of our students have entered high level positions upon graduation, including:

• Sustainability Executive, BUPA
• United Nations Environment Programme, Finance Initiative
• Sustainable Development Policy Advisor, Defra
• Consultant, Beyond Green
• Sustainability Consultant, Arup
• Head of Destinations & Sustainability, ABTA
• Founding a sustainability enterprise

7. Get Organised
All you need to know about the programme can be found on our website and applications are now open for September 2012. If you see your future in a leadership or decision-making role, helping to change the systems that trap organisations in unsustainable behaviour, this course will equip you with the key knowledge and skills. Download the application form here.