Ecological Economics

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Make sense of the claims made by those who invoke economic concepts and arguments in debates over ecological and social issues
• Understand the basic principles of cost-benefit analysis, investment appraisal, macro-economic theory, systems analysis and ecological economics
• Understand the dilemma of growth in advanced economies and engage in debates about growth, prosperity and sustainability
• Participate in case study discussions relating to ecological economics.

Content includes the following:

• Brief introduction to the history of economic ideas
• An overview of the challenge of achieving a sustainable prosperity
• Microeconomics - investment appraisal, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, internalisation of external costs
• Macroeconomics – the principles of demand and supply, consumption, investment, labour demand and productivity in an ecological context
• Investment, debt and money creation
• Growth theory and the dilemma of growth in advanced and developing economies.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Lectures and class discussions (30 hours)
• In-class group work (10 hours)
• Independent study (110 hours)
• Online pre-course webinar (1 hour).

• A pre-course reflection on the ‘dilemma of growth’ in a finite world (25% of marks)
• A post-course essay using the analytic techniques and covering one of the conceptual issues taught on the course (75% of module marks).

Please note: if you are taking this as a standalone module, then you are not required to complete the 3,000-word post-module essay, however, this will mean that you won't gain any credits for completing the module and so won't be able to work towards a qualification if you later decide to do so.

You will be required to do some reading prior to the module starting, take a look at the reading list. Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENGM059.