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43700-01 - Vorlesung mit Übungen: Perspectives of Economics on Sustainability (3 KP)
| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2026 |
| Angebotsmuster | Jedes Frühjahrsem. |
| Dozierende | Vera Calenbuhr (vera.calenbuhr@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | The course is offered within the scope of the program "Pathways to Sustainability" (formerly known as "Transfaculty Cross Section Program Sustainable Development/Transfakultäres Querschnittsprogramm TQNE": https://msd.unibas.ch/en/study-programs/pathways-to-sustainability-tqne/) & MSD. The program consists of 3 introductory lectures with practical courses (lecture A and B are offered in fall semesters, C is offered in spring semesters) dedicated to conveying the foundations of sustainable development. An additional integration seminar (D, offered in spring semesters) engages with interdisciplinary work. The assignment and completion of D requires the successful completion of two lectures from the above mentioned lectures A, B and C. The topic "Food and Sustainability" serves as an integration focus for the entire program and, thus, also for this lecture. The present lecture on the economic perspective of sustainability starts with an introductory section on the discipline of economics building on the 10 basic rules of economics following the text book of Mankiw & Taylor. Moreover, the course presents and discusses various aspects of producing and consuming food including the challenge of malnutrition and hunger from the perspective of economics, i.e. understanding the driving forces that govern people's and socities' decisions and behaviour. A.o., the course covers the following topics e.g. - concepts of development and sustainable development incl. related indicators (e.g. GDP, Human Development Index); the capabilities approach; - the relation between income and societal development; - the economic perspective of sustainable development (e.g. the 3-pillar-model, strong and weak sustainability); - the relation between income and nutritional state incl. hunger. - the concepts of food security and water security - challenges on the path towards sustainable development. Numerous case studies help to provide an understanding of key issues and trade-offs: - High-income countries: increase of productivity through intensive agriculture vs. decrease of biodiversity and increased pressure on the environment; -Threshold countries: the links between economic growth, increased income, - increased protein consumption (in particular increased animal based protein consumption), increased pressure on the environment (in particular increased emission of greenhouse gases); - Low-income countries: agricultural vs. technological development paths? - Global: Who profits from fairtrade-products? Do modern financial sector products lead to more hunger? What is the impact of foreign land acquisition (aka land grabbing) on the economic situation of the indigenous population? What are the costs of providing clean water? Are consumers paying an appropriate price for water? Discussion of water management systems. Is there a commoditisation of the resource water? The lecture content also includes national and international political initiatives and scenarios conceived for facing food system challenges in the coming 20-30 years. On top of the economic perspective, the lecture will take a systems perspective investigating the roles of system boundaries, relevant time scales, as well as the interaction of (nested) subsystems. This approach helps to better understand the basic assumptions underlying economic models. |
| Lernziele | The scientific field of economics analyses the allocation of resources in a society. The objectives of the course are to a) provide the basic knowledge for understanding the food system, and b) to discuss what a sustainable food system means, from an economic perspective. This includes discussing the question whether ending hunger is equivalent to achieving a sustainable food system. |
| Literatur | The lecture uses many online resources and original scientific literature. Hence, there is no need to acquire a text book. Nonetheless, interesting books on the related subjects include the following: Costanza/Cumberland/Daly/Goodland/Norgaard/Kubiszewski/Franco . "Introduction to Ecological Economics". CRC Press (2014) (the book introduces the new perspective of ecological economics) N. Gregory Mankiw und Mark P. Taylor. "Economics" Cengage Learning, 2014 (3rd Edition) (economics text book used in basic economics courses at University of Basel). |
| Bemerkungen | Extra certificate Upon completion of the entire program "Pathways to Sustainability" and the enrolled degree program at the University of Basel students may order an additional certificate. For this purpose students send an email to coordination-msd@unibas.ch, attach their official final degree transcript (Zeugnis) and put their address. The certificate will be sent by postage. MSD 2017 Credit points can only be reconized for the "Focal Areas of Sustainability Research" module (requires learning agreement). This course is offered by the program "Pathways to Sustainablilty (formerly named as TQNE) & MSD. For details see: https://msd.unibas.ch/en/study-courses/pathways-to-sustainability-tqne/ Dr. Vera Calenbuhr holds a teaching assignment. |
| Teilnahmevoraussetzungen | Students are supposed to study at least in their third semester (bachelor level) or higher. |
| Anmeldung zur Lehrveranstaltung | Course enrollment on MOnA should be completed by the beginning of the teaching period (withdrawal possible until Monday of week five). |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Donnerstag | 16.15-18.00 | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Bemerkungen |
Class starts on 19.02.26: Online! For the rest of the semester, the teaching is done on-site. Final presentation: 05.06.2026; written exam: 12.06.2025. Room allocation according to details. |
Einzeltermine
| Datum | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|
| Donnerstag 19.02.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | - Online Präsenz -, -- |
| Donnerstag 05.03.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 12.03.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 19.03.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 26.03.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 02.04.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Ostern |
| Donnerstag 09.04.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 16.04.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 23.04.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 30.04.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 07.05.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 14.05.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Auffahrt |
| Donnerstag 21.05.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 28.05.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 11.06.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Vesalianum, Seminarraum (O2.02) |
| Donnerstag 18.06.2026 | 16.15-18.00 Uhr | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 114 |
| Module |
Grundkurse (Transfakultäre Querschnittsprogramme im freien Kreditpunkte-Bereich) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Umwelt und Nachhaltigkeit (Masterstudium: European Global Studies) |
| Prüfung | Leistungsnachweis |
| Hinweise zur Prüfung | Regular attendance of lecture and practical course; tasks according to information of lecuturer. Practical course (tutorials): Each student has to attend four sessions of group work (each 90 minutes) under the supervision of a tutor. Group details tba at the beginning of the course. Date for final presentation: 05.06.2025; date for written exam: 12.06.2025; both during the usual weekday and timeslot. Details regarding rooms are published in the online course directory, section "Dates and Rooms". |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anm.: Belegen Lehrveranstaltung; Abm.: stornieren |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | 1-6 0,1 |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | beliebig wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Universität Basel |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Departement Umweltwissenschaften |