Environmental Policy for GEC&P

URL study guide

https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/AM_1241

Course Objective

After completing this course, the student is able to: - Understand the concepts of governance and policy as they apply to challenges related to global environmental change; - Distinguish between various instruments and approaches to environmental policy-making; - Assess the effectiveness, legitimacy, and broader impacts of environmental policies; - Perform an analysis of policy interventions and their logics; - Present concrete science-based recommendations for decision-makers.

Course Content

Action to address environmental problems – i.e. environmental governance – nowadays comes from nation states and a plethora of other actors. In this course, you will learn what environmental policy and governance is and how some of the actors that provide for it operate. Specifically, you will learn to understand how environmental governance and policy is developed, implemented, assessed and contested at multiple levels, from domestic environmental policies to international treaties and transnational governance arrangements. You will familiarize yourself with the various modes of governance, from public to private, and the different governance instruments, from command and control to information-sharing and networking. In more detail, the course is thematically divided to address (a) the emergence and basic concepts of environmental policy and governance; (b) the role of interstate actors in environmental policy and governance (hierarchies); (c) the role of market-based approaches in environmental policy and governance (markets); (d) the role of networked governance with a focus on non-state actors (networks).

Teaching Methods

Lectures

Method of Assessment

The course has the following required deliverables/assessments:
- Research paper (30%)
- Video presentation (40%)
- Exam (30%) Students must pass all elements (5.5 or higher).

Literature

Readings will be made available via Canvas.

Target Audience

Students in the GEC&P specialization of MSc Earth Sciences.