| Statuss(Aktīvs) | Izdruka | Arhīvs(0) | Studiju plāns Vecais plāns | Kursu katalogs | Vēsture |
| Course title | Environmental Economics |
| Course code | Ekon5135 |
| Credit points (ECTS) | 3 |
| Total Hours in Course | 81 |
| Number of hours for lectures | 12 |
| Number of hours for seminars and practical classes | 12 |
| Independent study hours | 57 |
| Date of course confirmation | 21/06/2018 |
| Responsible Unit | Institute of Economics and Finance |
| Course developers | |
| Dr. oec., asoc. prof. Kaspars Naglis-Liepa |
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| Prior knowledge | |
| Ekon5090, Microeconomics Analysis Ekon5139, Economic Resources |
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| Course abstract | |
| The aim of the course is to promote the understanding of the scope, role and development of environmental anthropogenic effects. Within the course, students improve their knowledge on the role of the environment in the evolution of economic thought, which is the basis for the present dominant concept of sustainable development. Students are familiarised with the roles, gains and losses regarding services of ecosystems and the use of resources thereof. The course also includes the methods for assessing the environment as well as the principles of risk management. The knowledge acquired ensures the understanding of the course’s concluding topics that focus on integrated resource management, policy making and environmental development pathways. | |
| Learning outcomes and their assessment | |
| Knowledge
Students will be able to: 1.demonstrate the understanding of the consequences of interaction between the social and the ecological systems, Demonstrate the understanding of a taxonomy of resources, prerequisites and preconditions for the use of resources, differences in use between fossil resources and renewable sources. (Discussions in classes, independent work, exam) 2.Demonstrate the understanding of the role of the environmental dimension in the evolution of economics, the basic theories of environmental economics and methods for assessment of ecosystem services. (Test 1) 3.Demonstrate the understanding of the role of resources, prerequisites and preconditions for, constraints on and consequences of the use of resources, the most important findings of environmental economics with regard to efficient use of resources. (Test 2) Skills 1.Discuss matters pertaining to environmental protection and economic development and come up with reasonable arguments. Participate in a discussion and reasonably defend the opinion. (Discussions in classes, exam) 2. Calculate fossil resource potential based on the reserves available and the pace of resource exhaustion. (Seminars) 3.Define, describe and find a prudent solution to some problem pertaining to environmental protection or use of ecosystem services. Present the results of an independent assignment completed and of calculations. (Independent work) Competence 1.Integrate the findings of environmental economics into the existing belief system and use them to come up with original solutions. (Discussions, tests, exam) 2.Assess the constraints of resource use, the costs and benefits in both private and public contexts. (Discussions, independent work) |
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| Course Content(Calendar) | |
| Lectures (12 hours)
1. Environmental and economic cultural dimensions and their interaction (1 hour); 2. Dynamics of natural and social systems. Principles, models and results of system interaction (1 hour); 3. Evaluation and use of ecosystem services. Human well-being and biodiversity. Ecosystem assessment methods (1 hour); 4. Economic approach of environmental analysis - property rights, public property, externalities. Compensation for externalities (1 hour); 5. Resource taxonomy and sustainability. Renewable and fossil resources. Characteristics of use and economic conditions. Renewable but exhaustive resources. Biocapacity and economic balance. Environmental pollution (1 hour); 6. Pollution control, limitation and compensation. Pollution taxonomy. Environmental taxes or investments. Cap and trade systems. MACC (1 hour); 7. Environmental risk management. Types and effects of environmental risks. Risk management levels, communication, use of GIS. Pollution collection and technologies. Waste management and reuse. Waste collection systems (1 hour); 8. Environmental change and corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility in the context of business ethics, public relations, risk mitigation and value creation (1 hour); 9. Sustainable food production. Food quality and quantity. Conditions and certification of differential approach. Demand generation (1 hour); 10. Environmental policy, institutional organizations. Environmental policy guidelines, key policies - international agreements. Reasons for contradictions in national policies (1 hour); 11. Interaction of environment and city. The role of cities in environmental development. The role of the environment in the urban planning process. Trends and international agreements and practices (1 hour); 12. Environmental development directions, opportunities and forecasts. Development of anthropocene. Exposed, developed or sustainable land (1 hour). Practical work (12 hours) Practical works strengthen the knowledge acquired in theoretical classes and are closely related to them: 1. Formation of environmental economics ideas based on E.F. Schumacher "Small is Beautiful" (Green Thinking and Consumption), George-Rougen and Dalia ("Sustainability Approaches"), M. Greenstone and B. Cologne Jack "Envirodevonomics" (Interaction with the Development Economy), etc. (2 hours); 2. Analysis of market failures based on Coase theorem. Problem case analysis and decision making (1 hour); 3. The condition for the use of fossil resources. Stock levels and time of depletion. Decision making based on the Hotelling’s rule and real resource use strategies (2 hours); 4. Presents the calculated economic values of ecosystem services, using the value determination methods considered in the theoretical course (2 hours) Seminar 5: Possibilities of resource use, value of resource use, non-use (group work and discussion) (1 hour); Seminar 6: examples of extensions, evaluation, compensation possibilities (group work and discussion) (1 hour); Workshop 7 Atropocene - leaving some land for children. Limited resources, behavior change, economic science development perspective (discussion with a guest - expert) (1 hour); Seminar 8: regular presentations of works (analysis of the problem of environmental protection or use of ecosystem services) and discussion of conclusions (2 hours). |
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| Requirements for awarding credit points | |
| Exam.
At the end of the study course, an essay must be written on one of the defined exam topics available to students. The essay must be up to 2 pages long. As part of the course, the student must pass 2 tests, present an independent study on a case study in environmental economics, and participate in seminar classes. |
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| Description of the organization and tasks of students’ independent work | |
| Students must select one environmental economic analysis case and, in accordance with the prepared guidelines, present the results and answer questions. Students must independently prepare for tests, exams, and seminars. | |
| Criteria for Evaluating Learning Outcomes | |
| The course evaluation is based on the evaluation of tests (each worth a maximum score of 15), the evaluation of independent work (maximum score of 20), the activity seminar (maximum possible score of 10) and the evaluation of the exam (maximum possible score of 40). The maximum possible total score is 100; a score of 10 is equal to one point on the 10-point scale. | |
| Compulsory reading | |
| 1.Nagļa-Liepas K. redakcijā – autoru kolektīvs (2024) Bioekonomika: attīstības ceļvedis. LBTU – Jelgava, 185 lpp
2.Tietenberg T., Lewis L.(2012) Environmental & Natural Resource Economics. Ninth edition. Pearson. Pp. 666. 3.Kļaviņa M., Zaļoksnis J. redakcijā - autoru kolektīvs. (2016) Vide un ilgtspējīga attīstība. Rīga: LU akadēmiskais apgāds. 384 lpp. 4.Atstāja Dz., Dimante Dž., Brīvers I. u.c. (2011) Vide un ekonomika. Monogrāfija. Rīga, LU, 256 lpp. |
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| Further reading | |
| 1.Pelše M., Naglis-Liepa K., Strīķis V., Leikučs J. (2012) Atjaunojamās enerģijas izmantošanas ekonomiskais izvērtējums ilgtspējīgas attīstības kontekstā. LLU, Jelgava. 85 lpp.
2.Līdzsvarota lauksaimniecība. (2015) zinātniski praktiskās konferences raksti. LLU. 240 lpp. 3.Leach M., Rockstrom J. (2013) Between Social and Planetary boundaries: navigating Path-ways in safe and just space for humanity. World Social Science Report 2013: Changing Global Environment. ISSC. UNESSCO. Pieejams: http://www.worldsocialscience.org/documents/wss-report-2013-part-1.pdf 4.Schumaher E.F. (1973) Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. Harper Perennial. Pp. 352. 5.Kanemans D. (2012) Domā ātri, domā lēni. Rīga: Apgāds „Jumava”. 25 lpp. 6.Costanza R., et.al. (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature. Vol. 387, pp.253.-260. 7.Arow K. et.al. (1995) Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment. Science. Vol.268, pp.520.-521. 8.Daly H.E. (1992) Allocation, distribution, and Scale: towards an economics that is efficient, just and sustainable. Ecological Economics. Vol. 6, pp. 185.-193. 9.Therivel R., Wood G. (2018) Methods of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. 4th ed. New York: Routledge. 724 p. |
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| Notes | |
| Compulsory course for ESAF academic master programme Economics | |