Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development

Prepare to tackle global challenges

This concentration within the Master of Global Affairs (MGA) is for students who seek careers as international development practitioners or policymakers. You’ll explore the latest approaches to environmental sustainability, human-centered design, and impact evaluation; receive rigorous training in quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis; engage in hands-on project-based work through the Integration Lab (i-Lab); and develop the skills to design, manage, implement, and evaluate development programs and policies.


Sustainable Development is a vision for human dignity, economic well-being, social justice, and the preservation of nature on the global level.

In 2015, all 193 United Nations member countries signed on to the Sustainable Development Goals, which articulate a vision of globalization along with concrete economic, social, and environmental goals. Students who choose the Sustainable Development concentration will prepare for careers at the forefront of the global effort to “to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.”

The Sustainable Development concentration builds on the programs and expertise of the Keough School’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies and Pulte Institute for Global Development.

The Keough School has substantially impacted my professional goals. . . I discovered that I really enjoy doing development research. I enjoy learning about economics and statistics, and how empirical data can be used to improve development outcomes.

– Uriel Galace, MGA ’21

Uriel Galace full size

In the classroom and in the field

Coursework focusing on environmental policy, micro and macro economics, policy evaluation and data analysis—along with extensive hands-on practice through the Integration Lab (i-Lab)—will equip you to work in program design, management, and implementation across the globe.

Curriculum & Courses

Career opportunities

Renewable energy policy specialist
Project support officer
Sustainability consultant
Engagement manager
Monitoring and evaluation officer
Research assistant
Program officer
International development advisor