AECN/NRES 883 Ecological Economics
AECN/NRES 883 Ecological Economics
Syllabus, Fall Semester, 2008
(also see the
Class
Schedule, for detail on timing of the topics)
"We are always only one failed generational transfer away from darkest ignorance" (Daly and Farley, 2004, p. 41)
Last update: 06/03/08. We finished the 2007 fall semester with 21-enrolled, including 15-distance and 7-on campus students. Very enjoyable group; high quality discussion board and final presentations documenting real world cases of entities taking the eco-path. We have now started revising the materials for the Fall, 2008 offering. Thank you for visiting this website at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (UNL), Nebraska, USA. This course is jointly listed through the Department of Agricultural Economics and the School of Natural Resources.
This Ecological Economics course is intended for individuals intrigued with the possibilities for taking more of an eco-approach focusing on sustainability in business (including agribusiness), industry, community, government, economics, natural resource management and planning. The eco-approach suggests the potential for joint and co-evolutionary business, economic, ecosystem and community development. It recognizes both first and second law (thermodynamics) concerns with conservation and entropy; it also recognizes the need to build resiliency in eco-businesses and eco-communities. It also recognizes the new scientific findings on the nature of human nature... especially with regard to the human dimension of natural resources, ecosystems and natural environments. This new science suggests a dual nature of humans, that "People are driven by a combination of selfish and altruistic motives (from Robert Frank's book, What Price the Moral High Ground?)."
This course is offered through the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (IDEA), In particular, it satisfies a requirement in the Natural Resources Management Track within the Great Plains IDEA Community Development graduate program and serves as a core requirement in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources graduate specialization in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is also an elective course in the UNL-MBA in Agribusiness program, due to ever more interest in eco-production (e.g. E3 Biofuels plant; E3 Biofuels; PRIME Biosolutions) and environmental sustainability in agribusiness firms (e.g. see Dupont's Agricultural Products; Nestle; Dole). It is also an elective in the overall UNL-MBA Distance program, and will be of interest to those pursuing MBAs in other programs, due to the move to the "eco-approach" in many businesses and industries [e.g. see AT&T; Asian Companies; Ford Motor Company; Walmart; (also see CEO Lee Scott on Walmart Sustainability; Interface (See May, 2007 Article); World Business Council for Sustainable Development; and many companies and other entities intrigued with Green Power. Also, see the new book by Esty and Winston (2008) on how ever more of the major corporations and businesses are starting down the eco-path taking the eco-advantage (see review at Lynne(2008)]. We are on the leading edge of a major shift in business and industry toward the eco-approach (See Greenbiz.com for latest developments). Several business schools are also developing MBA programs/specialties in sustainable business (See: "Business schools find it pays to offer programs in sustainable development" with the principles of such development addressed in this course). Individuals are also designing eco-houses and living in eco-communities (e.g. see Solar/Hydrogen Houses and Sustainable Communities ), and developers are starting the move toward truly sustainable land development (See: Sustainable Land Development Today); the course serves as an environmental elective in the UNL Community and Regional Planning environmental planning option. Also, communities are evermore becoming involved directly in helping business and industry take the eco-path (see BALLE).
The eco-approach to business and industry, economic and community development defines our future. Individuals having graduate level training in economics are also encouraged to enroll with the course of study customized to individual needs, in that the eco-approach (and behavioral economics) are growing in their influence on economic thinking and frameworks, with the trend expected to become ever more pronounced in the decades ahead. The eco-approach is helping the pronounced move toward ways to include the phenomenon of cooperation and community in economic approaches and theory, on how to model individual action in the context of collective action in which the individual also participates.
For a quick overview of the details provided below, including why you may wish to enroll in this course, and to give you a feel for how it will be to work with PowerPoints in this course, see PowerPoint Streamed and the Notes. Also, I suggest opening each of these in a separate Window, so the Notes can be reviewed as one goes through the PowerPoint slides. Feedback on your experience with this on-line syllabus (e.g. how the audio works, download times, etc). will also be appreciated! For an idea of the experiences by other students, see the evaluation of the spring, 2006 course (Overall Evaluation, Instructor, Course Objectives, Course Content, Examinations, Papers and Homework, Prerequisites/Grade Distribution in Spring Class, General/Suggested Improvements ). For the fall, 2006 course, see: Content, Instructor, Overall Satisfaction. A couple of especially important, evaluative outcomes from the final survey re: the fall 2006 course: 28% strongly agreed and 57% agreed that "What I have learned from this course will help me in substantive ways in my chosen career." In a related question, 57% strongly agreed and 43% agreed that: "What I have learned from this course will help me in substantive ways to contribute to the ongoing conversation about natural resource, environmental and ecological system issues." For the fall 2007 offering, see Overall Evaluation (we will be adding the other evaluation elements as we approach the fall, 2008 offering... just takes time to do this updating!).
AECN/NRES 883 Ecological Economics
is both a Distance Education/Web-based course and an On-campus regular classroom
course, at the same time. The course may be accessed through several different paths, with the
course available to all students during the same time period September 29 -
December 12 (for Fall, 2008 offering):
1. For those registering for the on-campus class, please register in AECN/NRES 883,
Section 951, using the Call #1327 for AECN and #6037 for NRES. These
students may start registering during the standard fall registration period at UNL,
with registration possible anytime before the class starts on September 29.
Please note that students registering through this route are expected to attend
the on-campus class and
otherwise participate in the on-campus offering. There is also a more economics
intensive option available (basically reading/studying more economics journal
papers, as well as writing a paper) available by registering for AECN 868;
contact Gary Lynne at glynne1@unl.edu or
call 402-472-8281 if you wish to pursue this option (which is also open to
registration until October 1).
2. For those
registering through the UNL
Distance MBA program, which opens in early September, please contact C. J. Bachman
(cbachman1@unl.edu).
3. For those registering through the
Great Plains IDEA (Interactive
Distance Education Alliance) program through UNL, please contact Diane Wasser,
dwasser@unl.edu (For registration through
the other GP IDEA
locations, see Contacts): GP IDEA registration
opens in mid-August and runs through October 3.
Please note that the course materials for both On-Campus and
Distance Education students are centered in the
Blackboard delivery system. Also, individuals from both modes will be interacting
with one another through the Discussion Board system in Blackboard, including
the possibility of working on assignments/projects together. This is a "learning
community" of on-campus and off-campus learners.
Generally,
anyone holding a bachelor's degree may enroll in the course, albeit basic
knowledge gained in an introductory economics course is presumed. Ideally
students will have taken at least one introductory microeconomics course, and have at
least the knowledge of basic principles as illustrated in the book by Gowdy and O'Hara (1995). See reference below and
PowerPoint overviews (also see the
Notes on each slide) of main sections in
this book. Please note that the additional readings available through the
Syllabus are generally not required reading for students having
only introductory
training in economics.
Students with graduate level training in economics are
also encouraged to enroll in the course of study. For these cases, the
instructor is open to working with said students in order to
customize it to individual needs
including paying special attention to the additional
readings in the Syllabus. For more advanced students, the course gives
the road map for deeper self-study (which is largely what graduate education is
about, anyway!).
It is understood in all cases, due to this course being at the graduate level, that the student needs to be engaged in a substantial amount of self-education, being self-directed as it were, in the learning process. We each need to accept and exercise responsibility for what we learn. (also, see student commentary on Prerequisites from the Spring, 2006, offering of the class. Students generally note that at least an introductory economics course is a good idea! Also, those with advanced training in economics generally find the course a good overview of the field, and helpful in directing them to deeper reading and self-study of the fundamental science of ecological economics).
3-credit hours, offered in a 10-week time frame, September 29 - December 14, 2008.
The on-campus class will meet once a week, for 2-hours. The other 1-hour of class time will be spent on-line, interacting with all students in the course, through the Discussion Board. Distance students will also be given the opportunity a couple of times during the semester to interact during the night class with the on-campus students in a conference phone call and/or through Adobe Connect (an on-line interactive software program, which requires a high speed connection).
Ecological Economics Technical Support (Hardware and Software, Course and Blackboard Site Design)
Blackboard holds the set of course material, except for books that need to be accessed through a university library or purchased. The Blackboard site is accessible through http://my.unl.edu/ . We will help you interact with Blackboard, posting "how to do" URL sites at appropriate times, e.g. on "How to use the Discussion Board." There is also a Blackboard Manual available (after you log into Blackboard, and the Course, just click on Tools and then Manual). If you have specific technical difficulties in working with Blackboard, we will provide support: Please contact Terry Workman, Instructional Designer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln at tworkman2@unl.edu or call 402-472-0977.
This course takes a quite different approach to economics, business (including agribusiness and the food system), and community, generally, bringing forward a "view two" of the world, as illustrated in figure at the top of the website page at: http://www.sustainableeconomics.org/ while going beyond and working toward a synthesis with "view one" perspectives. This course works especially at bringing ideas from Ecology and Behavioral Economics under the new transdisciplinary umbrella that is coming to be called “Ecological Economics.” It has in its base three fundamental ideas, and a corollary idea that follows from the other three (also, see details for what distinguishes this kind of economics):
It acknowledges the 1st law of thermodynamics, the conservation of mass and energy law, which says we cannot really get rid of anything because burning energy or wearing out a machine or a building only changes its form, so we ultimately face limits on the economy due to accumulating waste products, eventually reaching an upper capacity of the physical and natural system; this points especially to the need to ensure and build resilience in the ecosystem, as well as other community systems.
It acknowledges, in some sense the perhaps even more important 2nd law of thermodynamics, the entropy law, which says we lose useful work as we do things, that is, there is no perpetual motion machine... no way for materials and goods to continually move toward a flow of money... that can run without putting ever more energy into it, and energy is a resource that has limits; this points to the need to build energy systems that run in synch with the Sun.
It acknowledges that it is human nature for individuals to seek self-interest to survive but that group (community and ecosystem) survival is also essential, and depends on jointly seeking a shared other-interest (a shared environmental, natural resource and ecological ethic as it were) in community. This is to say, rather than “there is only me and no need for the we” that calls for economic development and efficiency at all costs, this way of thinking about economics and development proposes that the “me needs a we to be” while still recognizing that “without a me there is no we.”
Building on these three ideas, it recognizes that capital helps humans do things, and that the notion of capital needs to be expanded to include not only financial and built capital (including machinery equipment, tools, computers, as well as buildings, roads, etc) and human capital (human knowledge, skills, capabilities), but also needs to include social capital (the productive networks among people, reflected in the shared other-interest, and, to an extent even in networks between people and animals, especially apparent with the family pet!), and natural capital (the natural and physical system does an immense amount of work, e.g. the hydrologic cycle providing rain, the carbon cycle providing for plant growth, natural ecosystems processing wastes from human eco(nomic)systems). It also recognizes the possibility that each of these kinds of capital... especially the natural capital... may have intrinsic value in their own right, beyond what the capital can do for humans.
Also, see utility v. ecology, disciplinary v. transdisciplinary, and pragmatic considerations.
We seek to help students as both as citizens and as contributors in the working world, who will be or already are working in businesses, government and non-governmental agencies, and communities to form better natural resource management, eco-management, eco-business, eco-industry and eco-community approaches. The student will:
The course is centered around a required text and a suggested (not required) workbook. The course focuses on the microeconomics parts of these books, covering mainly the first 12-chapters in the textbook and related sections in the workbook. These books may be ordered through any number of web based sources, e.g. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., directly from the Publisher (see links) or purchased through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and other University Bookstores:
Recommended reference texts, to become more familiar with economic approaches, and to supplement the required text (these are also available through a number of web based and university bookstore sources):
Chapman, D. Environmental Economics: Theory, Application, and Policy. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000). (For the student with some undergraduate background in economics).
Costanza, R., Cumberland, J., Daly, H., Goodland, R. and Norgaard, R. An Introduction to Ecological Economics. Boca Raton, Florida: St. Lucie Press, 1997. (Presumes some knowledge of intermediate to advanced undergraduate microeconomics. See Review. This is an "e-book" available on-line, and currently being revised, with contributions by other authors; see: http://www.eoearth.org/article/An_Introduction_to_Ecological_Economics_%28e-book%29 )
Gowdy, J. and O’Hara, S. Economic Theory for Environmentalists. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1995 (For the student with essentially no undergraduate background in economics).
Hanley, N., Shogren, J.F. and White, B. Environmental Economics in Theory and Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. (For the student with substantial undergraduate training in economics).
Journal and other readings: In some Lessons, a particular journal paper or part of another book will be required reading. In these cases, the material will be made available through Blackboard, or, students may access the material directly through local university libraries (e.g. through JSTOR or other reference services; generally the library has direct access to the electronic version of the journal if the library has a subscription to it). For a listing of the most salient publications in this field, see:
Costanza, R., Stern, D., Fisher, B., He, Lining, Chundo, Ma. “Influential Publications in Ecological Economics: A Citation Analysis.” Ecological Economics 50,3-4 (October, 2004): 261-292. (See PowerPoint Overview of this Paper). Also, see Ma, C., Stern, D.I. "Environmental and Ecological Economics: A Citation Analysis." Ecological Economics 58,3 (June, 2006): 491-506.
Computer and software requirements:
Generally, it is best to have Windows XP (or equivalent) on a computer with at least a Pentium IV (or equivalent) processor and high speed internet access. Some students have managed to use older equipment and "dial-up" 56K modems: Blackboard can be accessed this way, and the "Impaticized" Audio augmented PowerPoints we use in the class will "play." (Please let us know if you plan to use this kind of equipment, such that we can try our best to accommodate your needs).
The Adobe Reader will be needed for accessing journal papers and book chapters provided in Blackboard. Microsoft Word is the favored word processor for submitting written assignments through Blackboard, although Word Perfect files are also acceptable. Microsoft Excel is needed to work with the simulations and/or to submit assignments in spreadsheet form. It is also acceptable to submit assignments where the materials have been converted into *.pdf files.
Some flexibility can be given in work being submitted late for good reasons. This is also true for absence from discussions. Missed assignments may be submitted late but under penalty. Generally, technical problems like “My computer crashed, and I lost all of my work” cannot be acknowledged, in that everyone is expected to keep back-up copies of key files.
Grading System:
Category grading is applied, using:
A: 90-100 = Excellent work
B: 80-89 = Good work
C: 70-79 = Poor work
D: 60-69 = Very poor work
F: 50-59 = Insufficient/Failure
Generally, a graduate student must maintain a “B or better” grade point average,
with the goal to obtain at least a B in every course. So, for each
assignment and for individual exams, a grade of 79 or less is subject to the
"safety-net" policy. If your grade is in this range, you have the option of
redoing the exam or assignment. Points will be added on a 1:5 proportion of the new score (e.g.,
if you earn 100-points on the re-write or oral exam, you can earn up to 20 extra
points). However, the total points added cannot give a new grade higher than 80.
This policy is only to recognize that we all have bad days, bad times with a
particular problem set, etc., and to help ensure everyone is successful.
This policy does not affect the grades of others, in that grades are awarded by category. That is, there is generally no curve, albeit we reserve the option of raising the overall level for the entire class. Also, the entire class, e.g., could earn a B or better grade, including all As. Plus/minus grades are also awarded within each category, e.g. 80-84 = B- and 85-89 = B+. We encourage high quality work, and especially recognize progress made by each individual as we move forward through the semester.
Regarding the matter of grades and grading, it would be
great to receive any feedback you might have on the best way for both you as
student and we as the instructors to understand the nature and progress of your
learning.
Exams:
There will be 3-exams, accounting for 60% (20% each) of the grade. Each exam covers only new
material, except to the extent that principles and approaches may apply in later
exams. For those enrolled as a distance education student, there needs to be
verification of the individual who is taking the exam.
Written and Computer based assignments:
Problem sets/homework assignments account for 20% of the grade. The main
assignment will be to prepare a PowerPoint presentation delineating
how one real world "eco-something" is and could be operating. Possible topics
include:
a. Do an overview of how a Sony or Volvo have moved to
accounting for recycle content from the very start of engineering and in raw material acquisition,
including manufacturing through bringing the material back into the production stream at
the end of useful life, and assess the potential for such industrial ecology
(i.e. closed loop) approaches in manufacturing for the future.
b. Explore how to develop the capacity for locally produced food in organic,
sustainable farming ways to support local farmers and consumers, and/or how
modern technology might be used to help make said systems more productive but
yet sustainable (i.e. in synch with the flow of solar energy).
c. Consider what current agribusiness firms might move toward in the future (and
companies like Nestle are doing already) with
respect to introducing industrial ecology types of approaches in food processing
and in manufacturing of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and/or how these
firms might approach the introduction of genetically modified organisms relative
to other ecosystems.
d. Examine how your local or other community
(e.g. the case in Vermont) might best integrate living and shopping space into natural
features and ecosystems.
e. Summarize and characterize how eco-tourism is working locally, or at other
places in world, looking to the potential for the future.
f. Examine how Walmart or some other retailing business is applying sustainable,
eco-eco principles to their operations, including encouraging suppliers to apply
eco-principles in production.
g. Explore how well a certain land, fishery, forest or other natural resource
approach such as resilience based adaptive management is or could be working in a specific area of reference, using the
eco-eco approach, e.g. managing
an urban-agricultural interface between your city and the agricultural area
surrounding it, or managing a particular ocean or lake fishery, or allocating
scarce water resources in an irrigation/natural resource district.
These are just examples; many others are possible. A practical purpose is to enhance and
expand your ability to think in more "eco-ways" and helping define
what is meant by an "eco-path." The overall
purpose of writing a paper or essay or developing a PowerPoint with extensive
Notes or Audio augmentation, is to not only help yourself and the reader
understand but also
to persuade.
Students will develop PowerPoints to address this assignment, with each slide having "Notes" and/or "Audio" added to each slide, and reflecting thoughtful analysis of what is on-going in each of these cases, especially paying attention to whether the Case is being implemented on the basis of sound thermodynamic and ecological economics principles. It is especially important to answer the question: Are they truly "eco-sustainable" in the sense of being in synch with the Sun, and addressing the resilience based capacity of an ecosytems, and otherwise meeting the standards suggested by principles offered in this course. The PowerPoint will be posted by each student on the Discussion Board as an Attachment in a Thread started by each student within the Lesson 20 Forum. Also, each student is asked to post at least one substantive comment about some other student's PowerPoint within at least 1-thread (but, feel free to post to more than 1-thread!), as well as respond to comments posted about one's own PowerPoint.
The PowerPoints can be "Impaticized" (converted into streaming files which, as noted, makes them accessible even to dial-up connections) before being Attached to Discussion note on Blackboard if you prefer. In this case, the actual slides will not be accessible for download. If you wish to have your PowerPoint posted this wya, send it to us, by e-mail and we will post the streaming version for you. "Impaticizing" will be especially useful if you add a large amount of audio, or have large numbers of pictures. Podcasts are also welcome, i.e. do digital recording of the Audio and then creating a mp3 file for posting. Example PowerPoint presentations from years past, including all of these kinds of features, can be reviewed in Lesson 20 (which is made available at the beginning of the class).
Discussion on Blackboard:
Participation in the asynchronous Discussion Forums (and occasional on-line
synchronous "chats") accounts for 20% of the grade. To earn these points, each student
is required to be an active participant including responding to the post of at
least 1-classmate each week. This is an opportunity to both learn
from and help teach within this learning community. The Discussion is evaluated using a
Rubric for Evaluating Discussion,
which recognizes that the ongoing conversation in the discussion needs to be
connected to the underlying scientific conversation (seeing
science as a kind of conversation) in the books, journal papers... as well
as to that in other realms, like the contemporary environmental news, and with
one's own experiences in dealing with such issues.
Assessment:
The goal is to provide feedback on the Discussion Board, Exams and Assignments within 1 to 2-weeks, and always before the next exam or assignment. Feedback on the Discussion is provided about the same time as on the Exam, in that Discussion Board activity correlates with the material for the Exam. An attempt is made to provide an ample basis for ratings and grades. To accomplish this, rubrics (e.g. see the Supply-Demand Rubric) are used. See the Discussion Board Rubric; Exam Essays Rubric (also, see Rating Scale); PowerPoint Presentations Rubric; and the Papers Rubric ). This use of a Rubric gives a basis for giving the reason for the specific Rating.
Ecological Economics Class Schedule (see UNL Academic Calendar for other important dates)