Career
Sustainable development is now a well accepted approach to decision making in many
sectors of community and professional life. It is a concern to which not only all
tiers of government and industry are responding, but the community at large through
their preferences in the market place. This is now happening at a global level.
Conferences such as the recent one in Kyoto, Japan are leading to more binding
commitments by all countries and this will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on how
we design and build our houses, cities and other infrastructure, and how we educate
and train our professionals and the community.
Building and urban environments represent a major source of human impact on natural
ecosystems, and sustainable development has now become a major concern of urban policy
and development. There is an increased demand for the built environment and related
professionals to develop knowledge and skills appropriate to sustainable development,
and an expansion of specialised career opportunities in both the public and private sectors.
Hear from the Graduates
Mark Ayto
I was working for a fairly prestigious project management company in London and had been
involved in several major projects. Sustainability appeared in all of them to some degree
but not as a central theme, so I decided to look for a way of learning about how
sustainability could become the core objective of projects and how to convince clients
and project teams to embrace sustainability. I also wanted to find a way of launching
my career on a slightly different path.
I was surprised by the variety of options open to me but chose UNSW because of the course
options and the opportunity to study with international students. Enrolment was facilitated
by IDC in London and relocating was relatively painless. At first, lectures and coursework
were a little daunting but I quickly adapted and was pleased to find that I could call on
experiences to demonstrate good and bad sustainability practices. Parts of the course took
me further than I imagined – away from the “mainstream” thinking on sustainability that I
had experienced in my professional life - yet other aspects of the course helped me to
reinforce my practical experiences. The course tends to draw on examples from Sydney and I
found that I relied upon the UK construction industry for sources of information at first.
With a little effort and collaboration with other students, however, I found commonalities
in thinking that could truly be applied internationally.
Taking the Sustainable Development program was only the first step: I have now secured a senior
role in a project management company in Sydney who are keen to develop services and working
methods geared to sustainability. I look forward to applying my new skills and ways of working
in this exciting environment.
Mittul Shah
Having graduated in Bachelors of Architecture from CEPT, Ahmedabad, India, I worked for about
two years on a varied range of projects. These projects allowed me to express my immense
respect and love for nature, Architecture and community development. I felt a responsibility
to advance my studies so as to elevate my passion into a more holistic understanding of
sustainability. UNSW in Sydney, Australia perfectly suited all my needs in terms of the size
of the University, the flexibility of the course and the provision of an internationally
recognised education.
The eminent professors and lecturers working at UNSW led me on a journey of valuable experiences,
provoking a series of reflective moments in my life. The Masters phase has given me a definitive vision
for the rest of my life, as well as a thorough understanding of sustainability. I am highly satisfied
with my choice of University and course. There are many opportunities for me, such as research, continued
education and design but at this point in time I intend to practically apply the knowledge gained in
designing built environments with becoming involved in education, at a community or university level;
presently within Australia but then in India and probably worldwide.
Undergraduate Degrees
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