Hi, I’m Kristina. I’m a final-year Global Sustainable Development (GSD) single honours student and I thought I’d just share with you my experience on the course of GSD and kind of a reflection overall.

So basically to start with just to talk about the course itself, it’s extremely interesting and stimulating and we really get to explore a lot of real-world issues. So for example in the Climate Change module, we learn about the process of climate change itself from a scientific view, and then also the complexities of politics and policy-making and different interest groups, and basically the kind of issues that stop us from pursuing more climate-ambitious policies in the real world. So that’s just an example of the second and third year module you can take that is really topical at the moment obviously with Extinction Rebellion and all that other stuff that’s going on.

In terms of the staff and the professors, I found especially due to the smaller size of the GSD cohort, we have a really good relationship with them. I’ve always been able to go to them to ask for help, or maybe to get feedback on essay ideas and stuff like that. I’ve found it basically to be a really dynamic and engaging course, and the support has always been there aswell. I’m really pleased I took GSD, especially now reflecting on my three years, I’ve loved the course overall.

For me especially, a really big factor of my choice to take single honours was the flexibility in terms of being able to take external modules from different departments. This just basically means that part of your CATS (credits) towards your final degree are taken from other departments. For example, I have taken modules from Sociology and the Warwick Business School (WBS) aswell, and this really allows you to explore your own passions. In second year, I realised I was really interested in corporate sustainability and the impacts that firms basically have on stopping us from pursuing the Sustainable Development Goals, and how this corporate relationship works. By taking some WBS modules including International Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility, I’ve been able to learn about these issues from the Business perspective, and combine them with my knowledge from GSD. The real big benefit of taking the single honours GSD course is that flexibility and opportunity for you to pursue your own passions.

For first years coming in, my biggest piece of advice would be to really take advantage of all the opportunities you get in first year terms of societies, extra-curriculars, sports clubs, and even the GSD Society and societies related to the Department aswell. This is where you make all your friends and set a really solid foundation for the next three years. Get involved and take advantage of everything university has to offer because it can be a really, really great experience and I’m sad to be leaving.