The course addresses ecosystem services, their value for society, the causes of their degradation, the stakeholders involved in their provision and use, and policies to reduce their degradation. One focus is on environmental economics approaches, highlighting their potential and limitations. During the spring of 2023 this course will focus on these issues through the case of the Brazilian Amazon.

PhD students in public policy (or related fields) get an introduction to epistemology and an overview of different methodological approaches. The course will help them design their own (interdisciplinary) research and create meaningful and policy-relevant insights.

In this colloquium, doctoral students present their research plan within the first year of their doctorate, which is reviewed by three professors affiliated with the ISTP and commented on by the peer students registered in the colloquium. We recommend attending the colloquium for two semesters and presenting the research plan in the second semester.

The lectures will introduce students to the principles of quantitative policy analysis, namely the methods to predict and evaluate the social, economic, and environmental effects of alternative strategies to achieve public objectives. A series of individual assignments, and one group project, will give students an opportunity for students to apply those methods to a set of case studies.

Analysis and presentation of research papers from the involved chairs, relating to topics from human-environment systems.

Technologies substantially affect the way we live and how our societies function. Technological change, i.e. the innovation and diffusion of new technologies, is a fundamental driver of economic growth but can also have detrimental side effects. This module introduces methods to assess technology-related policy alternatives and to analyse how policies affect technological changes and society.