Ecological Economics

Objectives

-       Understand the vision, approach and central concepts of ecological economics

-       Understand the differences to the approach of environmental economics and integrate it withother approaches

-       Understand the fundamentals and implications of different sustainability paradigms

-       Interpret and evaluate indicators and pathways for economic growth and sustainability

-       Explore the concept of ecosystem services, methodologies for their evaluation and its potentialfor the definition and implementation of public policies

-       Develop processes of evaluation and sustainable management of natural resources

-       Understand the relationship between environment, international trade and competitiveness

-       Consolidate and strengthen capacities for the definition and implementation of environmentalpolicy instruments

General characterization

Code

10395

Credits

6.0

Responsible teacher

Rui Jorge Fernandes Ferreira Santos

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - 28

Teaching language

Português

Prerequisites

Available soon

Bibliography

Costanza, R., Hart, M., Posner, S., Talberth, J., 2009, Beyond GDP: the need for new measures of progress, Pardee papers, N.º4, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA.

Daly, H, Farley, J., 2011, Ecological Economics – Principles and Applications, Island Press, Washington.

Healy, H., Martinez-Alier, J., Temper, L., Walter, M. and Gerber J.F. (eds), 2013, Ecological Economics from the Ground Up, Earthscan, London.

Spash, C.L. (editor), 2017, Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics: Nature and Society, Abingdon, Routledge

Victor, P. (ed.), 2013, The costs of economic growth. The International Library of Critical Writings in Economics series, Edward Elgar Publishing

Articles in the Journals:

Ecological Economics

Land Use Policy

Journal of Cleaner Production

Sustainability

Ecosystem Services

Environmental Policy and Governance

Teaching method

The teaching methods are adjusted to the format of theoretical-practical classes adopted in the course. Thetheoretical framework, where the fundamental principles and concepts are introduced, is articulated with thediscussion of cases of practical and real studies. Students '' participation in the discussion of themes, as well asresearch and autonomous study is encouraged.

Evaluation method

The continuous evaluation in this course includes several evaluation moments: group work on theme that integratesat least the mapping/evaluation components of ecosystem services, Multicriteria evaluation and environmental policyinstruments; five Quiz, lasting 50 minutes. The frequency of the discipline is ensured by the accomplishment of thegroup work. For the approval of the discipline in "continuous evaluation" is required a classification higher than 9.5values in two of the five Quiz. The examination of appeal, has a weighting in the final classification equivalent to thatof the set of the Quiz (50%) and covers all the material taught in the course.

Subject matter

Vision of ecological economics: scale, efficiency and equity

Sustainability science – historical evolution and concepts; Sustainability pathways - Green Growth, Steady-State Economy andDegrowth

Sustainability assessment. Economic-based indicators;composite indicators and dashboards; biophysical perspective

Evaluation of natural capital and ecosystem services (ES) - concepts and mapping of ES; cost-benefit assessment; non-monetary assessment;multicriteria evaluation

Natural resource management – Fish Banks game, models. Challenges in the governance of commonresources – Elinor Ostrom''s approach

Environmental policy - integrating ecological economics, environmental economics and sustainable governance

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: