Here below you can find all master courses the University Centre offers. All courses are taught in 1-3 week modules running from August through June. See how the courses are organised in the teaching schedule for both programs. Usually 2-3 courses are taught at the same time, but students may only enroll in one course at a time.
The master courses are available to you whether you plan to pursue a degree or just take a course or courses. Please review the options for guest studies to determine how you can apply.
For further information, contact the Administrative Director of Education and Teaching.
Fundamentals of Sustainable Coastal Communities
- Autumn 2026
- Instructors: Dr. Gylfi Ólafsson / R. Morgan Greene
About the course
This course introduces the core concepts, challenges, and opportunities in northern coastal communities and sustainable development. Using Isafjörður as a primary case study, students will explore the complex interconnections between a community's economic and political structures, infrastructure, and its surrounding environmental systems. The course is primarily taught by practitioners and stakeholders in the Westfjords region. Students will analyze why these regions are critically important and what primary challenges—from infrastructure challenges to economic shifts—they must navigate in the coming decades.
Instructors
Gylfi has a PhD from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm with research in low back pain and holds a master’s degree in economics from Stockholm university and B.Ed. degree from Akureyri university.
He has among other things served as assistant to the minister of finance and economic affairs, taught health economics as University of Iceland, been a researcher and consultant in health economics, and run a failed start-up in insect rearing.
Gylfi Ólafsson was the CEO of Westfjords Healthcare Institute (Heilbrigðisstofnun Vestfjarða) from 2018-2023. In 2026 he became mayor of Ísafjarðarbær.
R. Morgan Greene is the Academic Director of the masters' program in Coastal Communities and Regional Development. He holds an MSc in Energy Science from Reykjavík University and is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Business and Economics at Reykjavík University. Morgan Greene's research interests include public perception, the politics of the energy transition and participation in energy markets. Prior to his job as Academic Director, Morgan Greene worked as a program and development manager for the Iceland School of Energy at Reykjavík University
Learning outcome
On completion of the course a student:
- can define the core concepts, challenges, and opportunities in sustainability in northern coastal communities
- understands the diverse interests and challenges faced by stakeholders in a coastal community
- apply lessons from Isafjörður's development to assess challenges and opportunities in other coastal communities can present primary challenges (e.g. climate change, infrastructure finance, etc) in both written and spoken presentation