The Centre for Alternative Technology near Machynlleth has launched a new Masters in Research course in climate change in conjunction with the University of East London.

Delivered by CAT’s Graduate School of the Environment and validated by the University of East London, the course — which is now open to September 2023 applications — explores the causes and urgency of climate change, existing solutions and the actions needed to help tackle the climate emergency.

Dr Adrian Watson, head of the Graduate School of the Environment, said: “CAT is a world-leading eco centre with 50 years’ experience in low-impact building, energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable food production, natural resource management and much more.

“We have a strong history of researching environmental solutions through our pioneering Zero Carbon Britain research — and we’re pleased to be expanding our course offerings at the graduate school to meet the growing demand for researching zero-carbon solutions.

“The topics students explore as part of this new and exciting course have the potential to make a real difference to the climate and biodiversity emergency by building on knowledge and understanding of solutions and exploring innovative approaches.”

Taught content includes sustainability thinking and adaptation transformation planning; research philosophy, approaches and strategy; and analysis techniques and research design methods — with the course allowing students more independent research time than in traditional Masters courses.

Ffion Thomas, a previous CAT graduate, is now working towards a PhD on agroecological approaches to managing ash dieback at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University.

From a background in banking and modern languages, Ffion chose to study a postgraduate course at CAT to enable her to follow a different career path into academic research.

Ffion said: “As a previous CAT student, I know first-hand the flexibility and opportunities their courses provide – from getting hands-on with sustainable building materials, ecological assessments and energy efficiency, to learning directly from CAT’s in-house experts and guest lecturers.

“There was also lots of crossover between modules on CAT’s other postgraduate courses, which further enriched my learning experience.

“And thanks to the Graduate School’s support, I’m now pursuing a career where I can really make a difference and work towards finding solutions to pressing environmental problems.”