Environmental Studies

This course explores the philosophy and politics of food and agriculture from international and comparative perspectives. It examines global food systems; their role in the transformation of agrarian societies, and their environmental effects. The political portion of the course focuses on governance, development, and the role of key institutions in shaping food systems. The philosophical portion of the course explores the values underlying food and agriculture in the United States and Japan, along with efforts to develop more just and sustainable food systems. The course also discusses genetically modified plants, food safety, agricultural intensification/Industrialization. 
 

The course discusses common concepts in economics to learn why we harm the environment and overuse natural resources, and what we can do about it. The course discusses different types of environmental policy, how they work, and for what problems they are suitable. The course discusses whether and how we can put a dollar value on nature and ecosystem services. The course studies cost benefit analysis, international treaties, pollution in general, and climate change. The course takes an economic approach to global sustainability, and studies the relationship between the environment and economic growth and trade. This course takes a tour of the fields of environmental economics.

This introductory course examines the unsustainable culture of contemporary society, and explores the roles of design for more sustainable ones. The course provides a systemic overview of the environmental and social challenges that we face today, a series of dialog on our unsustainable culture and behavior, ongoing efforts to change them particularly through design interventions, and a hands-on experience to design products, services, and systems that influence and shape sustainable production and consumption.

The main focus of this course is on the interactions between people and their environment. It covers topics such as perception of environment, the origin of the earth, the evolution of the earth environment, and the earth as the home of human beings. Discussion about atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere are oriented to human history. They are considered either as natural resources or natural hazards. Historical events are used to illustrate how human history was affected by environment and how the environment affected historical events. Global change and sustainable development are the two main concepts that underlie such discussions. The course uses literature, art and archeological findings along with videos from Discovery and National Geographic Society.

Having considered in Level 1 why the concept of sustainable development (SD) is important and key concerns and areas of debate in understanding meanings of SD, this Level 2 course introduces aspects of how SD might be encouraged and facilitated. This course considers broad conceptual approaches to implementing SD. It includes more traditional frameworks based on governance and regulation ("command and control") as well as examining the role and importance of other approaches, including human security, environmental justice and management as well as community-based solutions and partnerships and conservation science. The course also addresses the extent to which these different approaches are interdependent, and how they can be used together to bring about change for SD.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its strategic implications in terms of: sustainability of business models; the need for innovative managerial paradigms based on stakeholder engagement and cooperation; measurement of the economic, social, and environmental impact of business activities; life cycle assessment; strategic planning of the United Nations 2030 agenda; and communication and reporting methods. The course focuses on the application of these topics to companies, public administrations, and non-profit organizations. The course is divided into two portions, closely linked and integrated: the institutional portion examines the theoretical and methodological bases of CSR, with specific references to the international framework, documents produced by the OECD, and the relationship with social innovation. The course introduces students to the most up-to-date methodologies in the design and development of corporate CSR and accountability systems. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between CSR management systems, communication, and a company's external relations. The monographic portion of the course focuses on the relationships between corporate CSR, environmental sustainability, and consumer demand for ethical and environmentally friendly products and services. It also highlights new service experiences related to corporate welfare and emerging concepts of local social responsibility. Case studies are presented in relation to companies with significant and innovative experiences of CSR, capable of determining managerial evolutions and organizational improvements in a company's managerial structures and in its relationship with the market. A specific section of the course is dedicated to the relationship between CSR, social and environmental sustainability, and circular economy. The final portion of the course is dedicated to designing corporate and local CSR systems capable of producing effective changes in the external perception and communication of businesses. The aim of projects and experiments is to closely and effectively link social and environmental sustainability in businesses.