wir924 - Ecological Economics (Complete module description)

wir924 - Ecological Economics (Complete module description)

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Module label Ecological Economics
Module code wir924
Credit points 6.0 KP
Workload 180 h
Institute directory Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law (Economics)
Applicability of the module
  • Master's Programme Environmental Modelling (Master) > Mastermodule
  • Master's Programme Sustainability Economics and Management (Master) > Supplementary Modules
  • Master's Programme Water and Coastal Management (Master) > Socioeconomics
Responsible persons
  • Sievers-Glotzbach, Stefanie (module responsibility)
  • Siebenhüner, Bernd (module responsibility)
  • Lehrenden, Die im Modul (Module counselling)
  • Lehrenden, Die im Modul (authorised to take exams)
Prerequisites
None
Skills to be acquired in this module
The students:
-get an overview of the current state of research in Ecological Economics
-know and understand core concepts and policy implications of Ecological Economics
-deepen their knowledge on one specific topic from the field of Ecological Economics
-improve skills in reading, interpreting and presenting academic journal papers
Module contents
Ecological Economics is concerned with integrating the study and management of "nature's household" (ecology) and "humankind's household" (economics). This integration is central to many of humanity’s current problems and to governing economic activity in a way that promotes human well-being, sustainability, and justice.

The aim of this module is to introduce students to core concepts and policy implications from the field of Ecological Economics. The module consists of two seminars.

-Lecture/seminar “Ecological Economics”: This lecture/seminar is structured into three parts. First, students are being introduced to the topic by two lectures on the specific vision and paradigms of Ecological Economics as distinguished from environmental & resource economics and on the history of Ecological Economics. Second, the students work out and discuss the core analytical concepts (such as entropy, ecosystem services, social-ecological resilience, substitutability of natural capital) as well as the core normative concepts (including distributive justice, human behavior) in Ecological Economics. Third, the students discuss and reflect certain policy implications following from Ecological Economics – specifically the measurement of welfare, economics of degrowth, governance of resources as commons, and social-ecological transformation. The basis for discussion will be classical and current scientific papers.

-Specialization seminar: Depending on current research foci and research projects of the Working Group of Ecological Economics, an additional seminar will give a deeper understanding of a specific research area in Ecological Economics (e.g., Social-Ecological Resilience, (De)Growth Concepts (Green Growth, Postgrowth, Degrowth), Commons).
Recommended reading
Costanza, R. (2001). Visions, Values, Valuation, and the Need for an Ecological Economics. BioScience, 51(6), 459-468.
Daly, H. E. (2005). Economics in a full world. Scientific American, 293(3), 100-107.
Røpke, I. (2004). The early history of modern ecological economics. Ecological Economics 50: 293-314.
Røpke, I. (2005). Trends in the development of ecological economics from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Ecological Economics 55: 262-290.
Links
Language of instruction English
Duration (semesters) 1 Semester
Module frequency Yearly in the summer term
Module capacity unlimited
Type of course Comment SWS Frequency Workload of compulsory attendance
Lecture 2 SuSe or WiSe 28
Seminar 2 SuSe or WiSe 28
Total module attendance time 56 h
Examination Prüfungszeiten Type of examination
Final exam of module
1 Hausarbeit oder
1 Referat oder
1 Klausur oder
1 mündliche Prüfung oder
1 Portfolio oder
1 Projektbericht