Barcelona, Spain

Circular Economy and Degrowth Principles

when 19 June 2023 - 7 July 2023
language English
duration 3 weeks
credits 6 EC
fee EUR 910

The conventional economic model is based on the hypothesis of infinite monetary growth, made of virtual bank money. Nonetheless it also requires considerable inputs of energy and materials, which are not infinite and have an impact on our planet. Environmental signals show us we are on the edge of a crisis and the uncertainty about our future environment relates to the development of a new discipline: ecological economics.

Course leader

Claudio Cattaneo
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona/ Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)

Target group

The UAB Barcelona Summer School is open to standing local and international undergraduates and graduate students. International students who have been accomplished the first year of their undergraduate or at least the 50% of their first year credits at their home university could also be enroled at the programme. A working knowledge of the language instruction is highly recommended.

Course aim

The conventional economic model is based on the hypothesis of infinite monetary growth, made of virtual bank money. Nonetheless it also requires considerable inputs of energy and materials, which are not infinite and have an impact on our planet. Environmental signals show us we are on the edge of a crisis and the uncertainty about our future environment relates to the development of a new discipline: ecological economics.

The course aims at presenting a new perspective in the economic field by relating it to the environment: it will consider the possibility of green economic growth, the main dilemmas and implications for the environment; students will be able to contrast two economic visions, that of growth-based economics and of ecological economics and the real-world implications of each one: the trade-off between economic growth (and job creation) and environmental protection and social justice. As well it aims to re-embed economic analysis with social and human dimensions.
The course will adopt Team-Based Learning a novel teaching method in which the students have to read compulsory material prior to the class, and will be evaluated with a closed-answer quiz at the start of each class, first to be answered alone, then with the team. The rest of the session will consist of a short taught class, watching documentaries related to the topic of the day, team work analysing the documentary, a presentation to the class by a team randomly selected and a class discussion based on the video presentation and the theory exposed. Homework assignments will be reading the material for the next day and, in the third week when all groups will have already presented, the writing of a report based on the video presentation and the feed-back obtained in class. The final mark will be based on the results of the closed-answer tests and the written report. In the last three days there will be two visits to real-life projects related to the topics of the course and, for the last day, an overall evaluation and take-home insights.

Credits info

6 EC
All subjects are accredited with 6 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) that your university might transfer to you own degree programme (depending on your home university’s regulations), especially if it has a mobility programme in place with the UAB.

Fee info

EUR 910: The course fee for international and national students (non-UAB students) is € 910 but those who register before May 1st will get 20% discount.

Scholarships

No but there is 20% discount on the tuition fee if prospective students register before May 1st.