Course syllabus for Policymaking for climate action and circular economy

The course syllabus contains changes
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Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-09 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish namePolicymaking för klimat och cirkulär ekonomi
  • CodeFSC005
  • Credits5 Credits
  • OwnerFRIST
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyGlobal systems
  • DepartmentNATIONALEKONOMI MED STATISTIK (GU)
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 99127
  • Maximum participants400
  • Minimum participants40
  • Open for exchange studentsNo

Credit distribution

0123 Examination 5 c
Grading: UG		1 c4 c
  • Contact examiner DIG
  • 15 Maj 2025 am J DIG
  • Contact examiner DIG

In programmes

Examiner

Go to coursepage (Opens in new tab)

Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level studies

Specific entry requirements

English 6

Aim

In the wake of the increased pace of ongoing sustainability transitions, environmental policies are becoming more comprehensive, complex, and demanding. The purpose of this course is to give participants an introduction to environmental economics and the underlying mechanisms causing environmental problems and to present a portfolio of environmental policy instruments to address these problems skillfully in their own practice or future work.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

1.    describe how the market mechanisms function and relate them to market failures that underlie environmental issues
2.    describe how environmental policy instruments work
3.    differentiate the impact that different environmental policy instruments have on incentives for technological and behaviour change as well as how these effect the distribution of costs related to environmental improvements.
4.    identify the environmental policy instruments crucial for the climate challenge and circular economy within the sectors of transportation, construction, energy, and analyse public acceptance of these instruments
5.    determine the significance of environmental/climate policy design to achieve set goals
6.    describe the concept of a circular economy and explain how efficiency can be increased and pressure on ecosystems reduced by following its principles
7.    be able to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool in learning to deepen knowledge in the above areas and be able to reflect on potential opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI in the field

Content

The course content serves to assist in learning why we have environmental challenges and what we can do to solve them.

The course will introduce content in three areas:
⦁    Policy instruments for environmental challenges such as climate change, the energy crisis, pollution and management of scarce resources. These include: taxes, subsidies, direct regulation, tradeable permits, congestion fees, information etc. Principles for a fair distribution of global responsibility, theories of policy selection and design, climate negotiations and a description of the policy-making process are also covered.
⦁    Basic economics concepts and models underpinning policy instruments are explained. This includes for instance market mechanisms (incl. supply and demand) and market failures.
⦁    The concept of circular economy is introduced, various examples of application areas are presented, and the challenges of the concept are discussed.
To learn from the experience of thought leaders from a few key sectors of our economy, you will be able to view interviews and podcasts with experts who talk about the role and implications of policies to their work and the sustainability transitions of their industry. The role of information and disinformation in the public debate about the climate challenge and the preconditions for policymaking will also be touched upon.

Organisation

The course uses a combination of online sessions, digital learning materials, individual assignments, and group work, and employs AI to enhance the learning process. Online sessions include academic lectures, industry guest lectures, seminars, and workshops. The digital learning materials include, among other things, video clips, self-assessment quizzes, texts, and case studies on environmental challenges.

The online resources are organized into structured modules on a learning platform, where online materials and synchronous online sessions are prepared in advance. A new feature for this course is a guide to improved study techniques that introduces how artificial intelligence tools can be used to enhance learning.

This course (5 ECTS) is intended for both professionals and students. The course is preferably taken concurrently with the course 'Policymaking for Climate Action and Circular Economy – Project' for 2.5 ECTS, in which participants work on a project analyzing an issue related to the same subject areas.

Literature

The main course literature is the book Sterner, T., & Coria, J. (2012). Policy Instruments for the Management of Natural Resources and Ecos. Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resourse Management (Second Edi, Vol. 53, Issue 9). RFF Press. The course literature is available on our learning platform. In addition to this book, most of the course concepts are presented in video clips in the online material that can be accessed via the course's learning platform.

Examination including compulsory elements

Pass level on at least 3 out of 4 hand-ins. Attendance on at least 7 out of 11 semi-mandatory online sessions. Pass the final exam. The exam is the course only mandatory physical meeting and it is located in Gothenburg.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to examination:
    • 2024-11-06: Exam by department Changed to exam by department by Schemagrupp
      [5,0 hec, 0123] Given by dept