Laurea Magistrale in Economics and Development - Economia Politica e Sviluppo Economico

The aim of this course is to provide students with tools to analyse – in an integrated manner – environmental aspects of economic, social and political development in developed and developing countries at both micro and macro levels. Economic expertise complemented with environmental analysis is increasingly appreciated by public and private sector organizations at local and international levels. This course will enable students to systematically analyse environmental issues and to cooperate in the planning and decision making process implied by the sustainable development objectives of private and public agents in developed and developing countries.

The course makes references to a wide range of concrete geographical contexts and scenarios at the national and international level, looking at territories as a whole as well as at single material, energy and environmental resources.

The main prerequisites for the course are: fundamental knowledge of the organization at various geopolitical scales (region, country); ability to describe in proper technical language the main economic phenomena; knowledge of the characteristics of and the fundamental components of economic-territorial organizations (cities, production, networks). Ideally students should have completed at least one exam in economics and one exam in economic geography.

Program of the course will provide:

• Reinterpretation of development in the light of environmental sustainability. The Evolution of social-economic thought; the industrial revolution (demographic, economic, ecological) and transition processes; new territory-environment relationships, the main environmental complaints, the paradigm of sustainable development.

• The emergence of environmental issues and the development of international policies for the environment. Not renewable and renewable resources; social supply and demand of the environment; the fallacies of the market and the principle "polluter pays"; global risks; the ecosystemic approach to economic organization; social tools to guide the environmental impact of production activities; assessment and environmental accounting.

• The great political and environmental issues. Energy resources and energy policies; air quality: the Montreal Protocol and the "hole" in the ozone, the Kyoto Protocol, climate change and emissions trading, and local quality indicators; water resources: physical, economic and political characteristics; biodiversity and GMOs; waste production, management, policies.

• Globalization and environmental governance. Environment and poverty, the risks of unsustainable social and environmental-related gaps in international development, international trade and the environment, the role of the WTO and the World Bank, global tourism; territorial levels of governance and sustainable development.

• The transition towards sustainability. Mechanisms and processes hindering or fostering the transition.

3 – PREREQUISITES AND REQUIREMENTS

At least a course in Economic Geography, in Microeconomics and in Macro Economics (undergraduate level)

4 – METHOD

Classes will be held in form of traditional lectures. Handouts and other materials will be distributed in class.

5 – ASSESSMENT/EXAMS

The student assessment comes from

ñ  80%: exam

ñ  20%: personal project on a topic selected by the student.

Exam (80%): the exam will be oral and it will be at the end of the course. No midterm exam are scheduled during the quarter

Personal project (20%): for the personal project every student needs to spend at least 20 hours. Possible topics include all those faced during the course that the student wants to study in depth. The topic of the personal project needs to be accepted by the professor.

18/30 to 30/30 and laude

7 – ATTENDANCE / PARTICIPATION / BEHAVIOUR

Attendance is mandatory (also in case of make-up classes).

If a student misses a class it will be his/her responsibility to catch up with what he missed (notes, readings, assignments, etc.). To this aim, exchanging email addresses and phone numbers is highly recommended.

If a student misses more than 30% of the scheduled class hours he will not be considered as attending student.

Students are required to behave properly within the school premises. Classrooms are to be left in order and clean. Students must take care of available equipment and materials and promptly report any damage and loss.

8 – TEXT BOOKS, READINGS AND SOURCES