West Nordic Studies, Governance and Sustainable Management

This new master programme starting in fall 2015 provides students with a unique opportunity to take part in shaping the emerging Nora region of Greenland, Faroe Islands, Iceland and coastal Norway and offers students a chance for enhanced mobility within the region.

In fall 2015 the University of the Faroe Islands, University of Greenland, University of Akureyri in Iceland, University of Iceland and University of Nordland, coastal Norway, will launch a new international and interdisciplinary master programme called West Nordic Studies, Governance and Sustainable Management.

West Nordic Studies: Governance and Sustainable Management is a multidisciplinary Master’s Programme (120 ECTS) in West Nordic Studies offered jointly by the partner universities. The programme aims to provide specific knowledge of the Circumpolar North, combined with abilities to manage and link contemporary issues and past developments on orientation in the major themes of the present debate on societal challenges. The objective is to increase knowledge of the common issues of the area. The aim is to graduate candidates that can understand and meet the complicated challenges of coastal Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands (the Nora region) as part of the Circumpolar North complexities and are able to strengthen networking in the area. WNS will offer a comparative perspective in meeting the urgent challenges the region is facing today including the social implications of climate change affecting scarce populations and micro-economies; long distances; limited working opportunities; gender issues in society and education; threats to indigenous culture and societal security; contested issues of identity and cultural heritage; the quest for natural resources; good governance and sustainable management.

The programme includes studies in WNS home universities, joint intensive course at the University of Akureyri, studies completed at other partner universities and a Master’s thesis. WNS studies can be completed in four semesters. Each WNS student is required to complete at least 30 ECTS credits at another partner university abroad. The length of the study abroad period can vary according to the student’s individual study plan.

Program details

Academic level(s)	Master
Country	Faroe Islands
Language of instruction	English
Institution	University of the Faroe Islands
Fields of study	Basic/broad, general programmes
Tags	high northmultidisciplinarywest nordicmultidisciplinaryHigh North