Department of Environment, Science and Social Sustainability (DESSS)

The Department of Environment, Science and Social Sustainability (DESSS) operates under the School of Sustainable Development and Tourism.

From our diverse range of program on offer, the Department focuses at creating a social and environmental balance that will help our island state and its citizens face the unprecedented socio-economic challenges.

Ranging from undergraduate programs such as the BSc. (Hons) Occupational Safety and Health Management, the BA (Hons) counselling, the BSc. (Hons) Applied Social Sciences, and our postgraduate programs such as the Masters in Sustainability for Business, Environment and Society, the MA in Counselling, the Masters in Climate Chane, Disaster and Health Management, the Masters in Educational Leadership among others, all our programs ensure that we address and understand emerging themes such as protection of human health, environmental sustainability, climate mitigation and adaptation among others. The academic team is highly committed in promoting enhanced quality of education, research and public service on our the UTM campus, for the African region and worldwide.

The Department currently headed by Mrs. T. Makoondlall-Chadee has as purpose to empower our learners to:

• Examine and understand for instance the function of natural systems, occupational health and safety systems, as well as our social systems;
• Understand how social, political, environmental and economic activities impact on the society of island states like Mauritius
• Experiment and test resilient solutions to overcome unsustainable human impacts, environmental degradation and social instability.

We aim to prepare our graduates from our undergraduate, postgraduate programs and post-doctoral programs to embark on a meaningful career fueled by their own passion and willingness to reach sustainability. Upon graduating from our programs our graduates will be effective interdisciplinary communicators with the right skills and knowledge to lead socio- environmental sustainability efforts in any field, anywhere.