T..M.E.

European Summer School 12-06-29

SUSTAINABILITY & ECONOMICS
2 JULY 13 JULY, 2012

Objectives

The objective with the course is to give the student a deeper knowledge in
both technical and non-technical issues concerning sustainability and its
interaction with economic issues. Topics to be discussed are e.g. alternative
measurement tools to gross domestic product (GDP), climate change,
transport systems in a global context and corporate social responsibility.

The course will be performed in collaboration with BME (Budapest), TU
(stanbul), KTH (Stockholm), OUSL (Sri Lanka), SUPELEC (Paris), UniTn
(Trento) and UPM (Madrid). All sites will be audio and visually connected by
nternet in real time.

After the course the student should be able to:

! account for the general principles of sustainability and how it interacts
with economic conditions and restrictions
! account for the principles of large infrastructure systems, as e.g. water
systems, related to sustainability and economics
! describe alternative measurement tools to GDP
! account for the meaning of Clean Tech for a sustainable development

Introduction

The importance of land as a resource was recognized as primary by the
French physiocrats in the 18
th
century and by John Stuart Mill in the 19
th

century. However, economists in the first two thirds of the 20
th
century were
still primarily concerned with problems of unemployment, investment, growth
and fiscal policy. n the 1960s, Boulding and Mishan were among the first to
call attention to the environmental costs of economic growth, although
mainstream economists were still slow to recognize the implications of the fact
that materials extracted from the earth and utilized for economic purposes are
not literally 'consumed', but become waste residuals that do not disappear
and may cause environmental damage and result in unpaid social costs.

Environmental economics finally emerged as a recognized branch of the
discipline around 1970 when the deteriorating state of the human environment
began to achieve headline status. "Earthday in 1970 marked the creation of
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. and comparable
agencies in other western countries. This was followed quickly by the
publication of "One Earth by Ward & Dubos (1972) and the UN Stockholm
Conference in 1972. The Stockholm conference resulted in the
T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29

institutionalization of environmental concerns at the international level through
the creation of an Environmental Directorate at the OECD and a new UN
agency, UNEP.

Although the concept of sustainability has been around for a long time, it
became more widely used in the 1980s. Back in 1983, the Secretary-General
of the United Nations established a commission called the World Commission
on the Environment and Development. This commission is frequently referred
to as the Brundtland Commission, after Gro Harlem Brundtland, the head of
the commission and formerly the Prime Minister of Norway. The commission
was asked to look at the world's environmental problems and propose a
global agenda for addressing them. She put together a team that went around
the world and talked to people in all walks of life: fishermen, farmers,
homemakers, loggers, school teachers, indigenous people and industry
leaders. They asked what peoples' environmental concerns were and how
they should be addressed.

The result of the study was that there wasn't one environmental issue that
was first and foremost in peoples' minds. People talked about living
conditions, resources, population pressures, international trade, education,
and health. Environmental issues were related to all of these, but there was
no hard and fast division separating environmental issues, social and
economic issues. All the problems were intertwined. There were links
between the environment, the economy and society that caused problems in
one of these areas to affect the other areas.

As a result, the Brundtland Commission came up with a definition of
sustainable development which emphasizes meeting needs, not just now, but
in the future as well: ".development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs".

n spite of the current concern that a strong interaction between sustainability
and economics is needed, the theoretical and methodological contribution of
economics to sustainable development nowadays is still inadequate. This is
indicated, for example, by the fact that the concept of sustainable
development is still rejected by many mainstream neoclassical economists. n
response, the merger-movement of "Ecological Economics" consisting of
many disparate scientific approaches has formed. This creates a scientific
divide which is undesirable from a research policy point of view.

Sustainability Economics can be described as economics for sustainable
development (SD) or economics for sustainability. t represents a broad
interpretation of ecological economics where environmental and ecological
variables and issues are basic but part of a multidimensional perspective.
Social, cultural, health related and monetary/financial aspects have to be
integrated into the analysis. The key features of Sustainability Economics are:

a) A comprehensive approach encompassing the ecological, economic and
social dimensions of sustainability
T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29

b) the development of economic methods and concepts that deal with
problems of sustainability
c) a strengthening of policy-orientated economic approaches for
sustainability
d) integration of the sustainability concepts of general economics (such as
sustainable finance) into the environmental economics SD debate
e) an identification of "bridges" between different economic "schools of
thought" (e.g. neoclassical economics, ecological economics, evolutionary
economics) by means of studying integration and disintegration processes
in general science and exploring venues of interdisciplinary approaches
(e.g. consilience).

References

! Ayres, R. U., 2008. Sustainability economics: Where do we stand? Ecological
Economics 67, 281-310.
! Boulding, K. E., 1966. n: Garrett, Baltimore M.D. (Ed.), Environmental quality in a
growing economy. n Essays from the 6
th
RFF Forum. Johns Hopkins University
Press.
! German nstitute for Economic Research (DW Berlin). Sustainability Economics.
http://www.sustainabilityeconomics.de (accessed 29-June-2012).
! Mill, J. S., 1848. Principles of political economy with some of their applications to
social philosophy. C.C. Little and J. Brown, London, UK.
! Mishan, E.J., 1967. The costs of economic growth, 1
st
ed. Staples Press, London,
UK.
! Sustainable Measures, West Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
http://www.sustainablemeasures.com/Training/ndicators/Def-Br1.html (accessed
29-June-2012).
! Sderbaum, P., 2008. Understanding Sustainability Economics Towards
Pluralism in Economics. Earthscan, London, UK.
! Ward, B., Dubos, R., 1972. One earth: the care and maintenance of a small
planet. paperback ed. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, UK.

Course content

The different sites will take it in turn to give lectures every morning from
Monday to Thursday. They will be sent by video link to the other sites. n the
afternoons, group discussions will be held (both locally and remotely) on the
topic given in the lecture on the morning. Thereafter, oral presentations and
discussions (seminars) will be held between the sites by video link. After the
lecture day, there will be time to write individual assignments of the day's topic
at each site.
Two study tours will be arranged each Friday at each site. They will be
followed by local group discussions and presentations on video link in the
afternoons.
Written individual reflections of the course have to be submitted at mid-term of
the course.

The work will be performed in small groups and individually.

T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29

Description of the lectures, study tours and group assignments are shown
below.

Lectures and study tours (Hours are given in Central European
time (GMT+2 including daylight saving hour))

Monday the 2
nd
of July 8.15 8.45 Course introduction
An overview of the course content and course details will be given.

Monday the 2
nd
of July 8.45 11.30
Replacing GDP as a measure of progress

Lecturer: Mr. Gyorgy Horvth, Budapest University of Technology and
Economics (BME)

Tuesday the 3
rd
of July 8.45 11.30
The mpact of Climate Change on Water Resources

Lecturer: Prof. Bruno Majone, University of Trento (UniTn)

Wednesday the 4
th
of July 8.45 11.30
European issues on Sustainability & Economics

Lecturer: Dr. Xavier Timbeau, SUPELEC

Thursday the 5
th
of July 8.45 11.30
Corporate Social Responsibility

Lecturer: Eng.V.R. Sena Peiris, Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL)

Friday the 6
th
of July 9 14
Study visit. Local arrangements at each site.

Monday the 9
th
of July 8.45 11.30
Social-Political Factors and Mitigating Climate Change

Lecturer: Dr. Marcus Carson, Stockholm Environment nstitute (SE)

Tuesday the 10
th
of July 8.45 11.30
Modelling for Sustainability

Lecturer: Dr. Attila F!r, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
(BME)

Wednesday the 11
th
of July 8.45 11.30
Clean Tech - Using Technology to Change the World

Lecturer: Prof. Luz Fernndez, Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM)

T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29


Thursday the 12
th
of July 8.45 11.30
Water Resources and Management

Lecturer: Prof. Ali Erturk, stanbul Technical University (TU)

Friday the 13
th
of July 9 14
Study visit. Local arrangements at each site.

Friday the 13
th
of July 18.00 18.30
Summary and break-up.

Individual assignments

Tasks for individual written assignments will be distributed at the end of each
lecture day, based on the topic given during that day. The deadline for
submitting all the individual assignments in Bilda is the 22
nd
of July 2012
at 24.00 GMT+2.
Individual assignments not being submitted in Bilda before the deadline
will not be evaluated.
.
Teachers and other persons involved

KTH, Stockholm:

Prof. Torsten Fransson Torsten.Fransson@energy.kth.se
Tel.: +46-8-790 74 75
(Head of Department of Energy Technology, Programme Director and Course
examiner)

Dr. Peter Hagstrm peter.hagstrom@energy.kth.se Tel.: +46-8-790 74 72
(Programme Manager) Cell: +46-70-231 96 85

Mr. Florian Fruth florian.fruth@energy.kth.se Tel.: +46-8-790 74 81
(Course assistant) Cell: +46-70-320 92 40

Dr. Marcus Carson (SE)
(Lecturer)

BME, Budapest:

Prof. Peter Moson moson@bme-tk.bme.hu
(T..M.E. institutional coordinator at BME)

Ms. ldiko Varga elekgaborne@gmail.com
Tel.: +36-702-270 055
(Financial and organizational issues)


T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29

Mr. Gyorgy Horvth george@eik.bme.hu
Tel.: +36-206-630 515
(Course responsible and lecturer)

Prof. Attila F!r
(Lecturer)

ITU, Istanbul:

Prof. dil Arslan Alaton arslanid@itu.edu.tr
(Vice Dean of the Graduate School, T..M.E Coordinator and responsible for
the TESS programme)

Mr. Mustafa Coban cobanmu@itu.edu.tr
(CT support)

Mr. Erdem Cicek ciceke@itu.edu.tr
(CT support)

Prof. Ali Erturk
(Lecturer)

OUSL, Sri Lanka:

Mr. Ruchira Abeyweera ruchira@kth.se Tel: + 94 (0)11 - 2881 - 227
(T..M.E. institutional coordinator at OUSL) Cell: +94 (0)71 - 6853 - 609

Eng. W. R. De Mel
(Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, OUSL)

Dr. N. S. Senanayake
(Program Facilitator SEE World M Sc)

Dr. D. H. R. J. Wimalasiri
(Asst. Program Facilitator SEE World M Sc)

Eng. D. C. Wijewardena
(Asst. Program Facilitator SEE World M Sc)

Eng. H. D. N. S. Priyankara
(Asst. Program Facilitator SEE World M Sc, and CT support)

Eng, V. R. Sena Peries
(Lecturer)

SUPELEC, Paris:

Dr. Claude Lhermitte claude.lhermitte@supelec.fr
Tel.: +33-169-851 243
(Head of nternational Relations Office)
T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29


Ms. Anne S. Chrtien Anne.Chretien@supelec.fr
(Local organization, accommodation etc)

Dr. Xavier Timbeau
(Lecturer)

UniTn, Trento:

Prof. Riccardo Zandonini riccardo.zandonini@unitn.it
(Deputy Dean for international relations)

Ms. Virna Eccli Virna.Eccli@ing.unitn.it
(Erasmus Office)

Prof. Bruno Majone
(Lecturer)

UPM, Madrid:

Prof. sabel Ortiz isabel.ortiz@upm.es
(Main responsible for TESS)

Ms. Ana Domnguez adominguez@etsii.upm.es
(Technical support at the nternational Office)

Mr. Toms Prieto Remn tc.prieto@upm.es
(Course assistant)

Prof. Luz Fernndez lfernandezg@etsii.upm.es
(Lecturer)

Literature

Lecture material and parts not included elsewhere will be found in Bilda an
electronic platform administrated at KTH.

Course requirements

- Participation in all course sessions (lectures, group discussions and study
tours).
- Approval of all individual assignments.
- Approved participation in all students' presentations (seminars).
- Submission of midterm reflections

Examination: 5 ECTS credits, given by KTH and TU.



T..M.E. European Summer School 12-06-29

Grades

ECTS grades (A F, where F is failed) will be received, mainly based on the
individual assignments.

The deadline for submitting all the individual assignments in Bilda is the
22
nd
of July 2012 at 24.00 GMT+2 (including daylight saving hour).