wir924 - Ecological Economics (Complete module description)

None

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

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).

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.

1 Hausarbeit oder
1 Referat oder
1 Klausur oder
1 mündliche Prüfung oder
1 Portfolio oder
1 Projektbericht