During this distance-based Master’s programme, you will learn about how everyday outdoor environments can promote development, health and well-being.
Programme information
Welcome to an international programme that gives you the opportunity to investigate how outdoor environments can be designed and used as a way of promoting health and well-being. The in-depth courses will teach you how different locations work for different groups of people and how humans perceive, use and are affected by nature and other elements in the outdoor environment. Would you like to gain knowledge useful in planning for an attractive outdoor environments that activate children, young people and the elderly? Then this is the programme for you!
Environmental psychology and landscape architecture are the starting points of this programme, which provides essential knowledge for urban planning and for the design of outdoor environments for healthcare services, schools, housing and public environments.
With a Master’s degree in environmental psychology you will have the skills needed to take on strategic roles in the development and more active use of physical environments in public domains, as well as adapting them to specific user groups, for example schools and healthcare environments.
This programme is a distance-based education, meaning admittance to this program will not make you eligible for a residence permit in Sweden.
The programme includes 2-4 online meetings per course.
Facts and requirements
Name:Outdoor Environments for Health and Well-being - Master's Programme
Level:Master
Language:English
Programme scope:2.0 year , 120.0 credits
Next start:HT 2026
Tuition Fees:Citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland are required to pay application and tuition fees.
First semester:72000
First semester half time:72000
Total:SEK 288000
Application deadline for international students:2026-01-15
Application deadline for Swedish students:2026-04-15
Pace of study:Half-time
Teaching form:Distance learning
Application code for Swedish students:81183
Application code for international students:81184
Pace of study:Full-time
Teaching form:Distance learning
Application code for Swedish students:81185
Application code for international students:81186
Requirements:
To be eligible for the Outdoor Environments for Health and Well-being – Master’s Programme, the requirements are:
General entry requirements: a Bachelor’s degree (undergraduate cycle) corresponding to a minimum of 180 credits
In addition, knowledge corresponding to English 6 (Swedish secondary school) is required. This is according to a local SLU decision fulfilled by those who have a degree comprising at least 180 credits at first cycle level from a Swedish higher educational institute or 120 credits completed studies at SLU. English 6 can also be achieved in other ways, which are specified at universityadmissions.se.
The requirements for special eligibility as stated above can also be fulfilled by those who have equivalent knowledge through a foreign degree or if equivalent knowledge has been obtained in another way.
For admission to the courses included in the program, the requirements for special qualifications are stated in the syllabus for each individual course.
It is further recommended that at least 15 credits have been taken within any of the behavioral disciplines, health care, education, design, environmental science, landscape architecture, gardening or forestry.
Degree:
Degree awarded on completion of the programme
Outdoor Environments for Health and Well-being – Master’s Programme aims at a Degree of Master of Science with a major in Environmental Psychology, a general qualification. See SLU:s internal directives for grading systems and examination rights.
Students who fulfill the qualification requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) will be provided with a degree certificate upon request. The degree certificate will specify the qualification as Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Environmental Psychology.
Degree requirements
A Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a major in Environmental Psychology will be awarded on completion of the course examinations (Pass grades) to the value of 120 credits, with the following requirements:
a minimum of 30 credits courses shall concern in-depth study within Environmental Psychology (A1N, A1F),
a minimum of 30 credits shall concern independent work (degree project) within Environmental Psychology (A2E).
First-cycle courses can constitute a maximum of 30 credits, provided these credits were not included in a qualifying Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
There is additional requirement of a completed Degree of Bachelor, Professional Degree of a minimum of 180 credits or a corresponding overseas qualification.
Admission: There are two admission rounds for this Master's programme. The first admission round is open to all international applicants at www.universityadmissions.se. SLU strongly encourage all international students to apply in this first admission round.
Content
This programme is aimed at students from various academic or professional fields. It provides scientific perspectives and concepts within the relevant subjects in an interdisciplinary context which can be used both to understand and explain the interactions between people and the physical outdoor environment, and to apply the acquired knowledge in different societal contexts.
Examples of interdisciplinary subjects include nature-assisted therapy and health promotion, and the role of outdoor environments for learning and development, e.g., outdoor education and rehabilitation. It also includes broader perspectives such as spatial planning or landscape design informed by environmental psychology. Special attention is given the importance of outdoor environments for individual development, quality of life, well-being and health.
Students will study national and international approaches to integration of green environments in an urbanisation/densification context, focusing on public health through access to natural environments. The health aspects will cover promotion as well as illness prevention and treatment. These concepts include an understanding of the influence of green environments with indirect (e.g., increased physical activity) as well as direct (e.g., reduced negative effects of stress) health effects.
The programme also addresses the specific role of public space in relation to emotions and restorative mechanisms that are important for public health. Students are given assignments to practise various methods used to survey the use, experience and effects of different outdoor environments such as gardens, parks, forests and other types of natural environments and public spaces, including the role of animals in everyday life.
Each course combines compulsory online meetings with independent and group tasks.
The programme can be studied either full-time or part-time.
Career
The skills and knowledge acquired on this programme are of strategic use in the development of sustainable societies in which plants, animals and other elements of nature are actively used to counteract stress and to support integration, rehabilitation and the development of healthy lifestyles. The programme prepares students for strategic roles in the development and more active use of physical environments in public domains as well as adapting them to specific user groups, for example schools and healthcare settings.
Degree awarded
Degree of Master of Science (120 credits) with a Major in Environmental Psychology.
