Sustainability Economics

6 ECTS credits
168 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1023757BNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Students must have taken ‘Intermediate Micro-economics' or 'Micro-economie' and 'Intermediate Macro-economics' or 'Macro-economie', before they can enroll in ‘Sustainability Economics'.

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool

Department

Business Technology and Operations

Educational team

Cathy Macharis (course titular)
Tom Vermeiren
Maja Lardot

Activities and contact hours

24 contact hours Lecture
24 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
120 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

Everything revolves around the interaction between the economic system and the socio-ecological system. First, the current theories and the new thinking frameworks should be discussed. Subsequently, one can go deeper into various topics that lie at the interface and therefore completely in the domain of Ecological economics.

The course contains the following aspects:

The place and significance of environmental issues in economic theories
The effects of economic activity on ecosystems and their theoretical framework
The constraints that developing ecosystems place on economic growth
The different ways to conceptualize and measure sustainability at the global and national level, as well as at the corporate level
Why and how is the environment valued, in money or otherwise?
Environmental policy and its effects on companies

More specifically:

Etymological, epistemological, historical and theoretical foundations of the study of the interaction between the economic and ecological domain
Basic model of the environmental economy (weighing control versus damage costs; valuation of damage or benefits of environmental conservation; Coase theorem; role of the government incl. overview of quality goals and risk approach)
Analysis of the key concepts of environmental economics: externalities, public goods, carbon tax, permits, etc.
Discussion of the central concept of "value" and critical analysis of the main methods for valuing environmental goods.
Environmental policy instruments (evaluation criteria; permits; levies; tradable emission permits (mainly applied to EU system in climate policy); deposits, subsidies, etc.; optimal mix)
Discussion on carbon emissions trading (EU Emissions Tracking Scheme, ETS, compensation, etc.)
The international dimension of environmental issues (with a focus on trade and climate change)
Discussion of the relationship between economic growth, environmental quality and well-being
Discussion of key concepts in the economy/ecology debate: entropy, circularity, evolution, etc.
Complementary contributions to traditional economic theory: theory of habits, technological constraint, alternative indicators of GDP, etc.
Discussion of the analysis of the principles of environmental asset management (importance of taking uncertainty into account and its relation to time through discounting) through different examples such as economic analyzes related to climate change or biodiversity
Circular economy" includes (i) the analysis of the basic economic models for the extraction of non-renewable resources and (ii) the interaction of different policy instruments used to arrive at a more circular economy model of production, consumption and recycling.
Placing these complementary concepts in the perspective of the transition theory (niche theory, cooperation, citizen participation, essential economy, etc.)
Be open to transdisciplinary approaches and the logic of co-creation to shed light on understanding the role of social economy initiatives in the ecological and social transition
Evaluation methods for assessing projects under uncertainty (deciding under uncertainty including option value; updating; cost benefit analysis; cost effectiveness; participatory decision making)
Inspiring examples by Firms

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Slides, Lectures and Papers

Additional info

Sustainable development was defined in the Brundtland report as: "Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations".

Economics is about choices and needs and sustainability touches on that at its core. Meanwhile, there are different interpretations and frameworks of the concept of sustainability and how the economic, social and ecological can be brought together. There clearly is tension between the evolution of the economic system and ecological boundaries, and a transition to a different way of thinking and living is imperative. HI and TEW students need to understand these frameworks and the social challenges and receive guidelines on how to deal with them. What opportunities are there for companies in this transition and how can they deal with the various challenges imposed on companies through environmental and other regulations. Every company has to deal with sustainability issues and we have to arm our students for this and also give them an extra advantage by taking this much needed knowledge to companies.

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

Creating insight into the complexity of sustainability issues and framing these within universally/globally recognized sustainability frameworks (eg SDGs)
Developing the understanding of future managers in the multidirectional and complex relationships between economic systems and socio-ecological systems
Provide students with facts, concepts, theories and analytical tools to help analyze these relationships
Improved awareness and understanding of what these relationships mean in terms of business management in the 21st century. Attention is paid to both local and global developments
Make sustainable, innovative and resilient choices based on knowledge of- and insight into economic processes
Striving for ethical, deontological and socially responsible thinking and entrepreneurship while reflecting on one's own actions (self-awareness competence)
Gain knowledge about the effects of economic activities on the environment, the constraints ecosystems place on these activities, and the ways in which economics science has conceptualized this two-way relationship
This knowledge should enable the student to be critically aware of the effects companies have on their environment and to develop well-informed and responsible management strategies

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Not applicable.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context