Challenging assumptions in environmental policy - a student's perspective

With the CMF application deadlne coming this Monday January 31, we caught up with 2021 CMF scholar, Katherine Greene. Katherine hails from Toronto and is completing an MSc on a full CMF scholarship at the London School of Economics. She tells us how the programme is challenging assumptions:

“Since arriving in London in September, each week has brought exciting new challenges and opportunities. Under the everchanging circumstances with COVID-19, I was fortunate to attend seminars on campus and in person last term for my postgraduate course in environmental policy. At a time of great uncertainty, engaging directly with my course cohort has been particularly rewarding both academically and socially. I have benefitted from the perspectives of a highly international cohort where all students are motivated to contribute their views for managing the climate crisis. With students hailing from diverse academic backgrounds, conversations are stimulating both inside and outside the classroom.

In thinking about environmental issues, I have come to question assumptions made in my studies previously and learnt to adopt a much more holistic and multidisciplinary perspective on issues such as climate change adaptation and development. Consideration for context-specific socio-economic, environmental and social conditions is critical for the appropriate development and implementation of climate solutions. The influence of the historical and political context on the power structures enabling or constraining fair and inclusive climate action is also important to examine. These discussions have also challenged me to move beyond technical solutions to environmental issues and to consider root causes of behaviours across scales and disciplines that lead to the complexity of mitigating the risks of the climate crisis.

 This upcoming term I am excited to begin new courses, especially one focusing on sustainable cities, with London as a fitting backdrop for studying urban climate issues. With thanks to the CMF, I very much look forward to another engaging term at the LSE.