Course description

Globalization, in particular economic globalization, has important impacts on the environment that have to be considered in order to achieve sustainable development.
The course aims at introducing the students to globalization and to its environmental implications. Environmental issues have gained center-stage in economic analysis and policy-making and their urgency has opened new opportunities in terms of technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
Through an interdisciplinary perspective, the course will provide students with key competences and instruments for the analysis of natural and environmental resources in a sustainable perspective and for the development of policies oriented towards the promotion of sustainable development processes both at a national and international level.

Introduction and objectives

The course focuses on environmental issues in a globalized contest within the framework of sustainable development. For this purpose the course will cover different themes, starting from the introduction of the concepts of economic globalization and of sustainable development, exploring then the new concept of Green growth and using the case study of Climate Change as representative of the relationship between economic development and environmental issues. The course will also explore the role of firms for the sustainable development, considering Corporate Social Responsibility and Industrial Ecology.

Course organisation and supervision

The overall structure of the course and its thematic organisation have been developed by prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University, TEN Program - Venice International University) and Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program - Venice International University). Ilda Mannino is also coordinator of the course.
The course is organised around different thematic areas, each developed through classes, and lectures by experts and researchers with a different background.

Course requirements

Students will be expected to do the required readings and to attend class regularly. Attendance is compulsory for all students. Required readings will be designated on a weekly basis according to the themes listed in the course outline. Students will be also encouraged to find additional material for their papers by searching the Internet and accessing suggested websites.
Field trips and seminars related to the course will be arranged.

Note for Ca’ Foscari students: students enrolled in Bachelor degrees - Management or Economics Department can attend this course and final exam (auditors are not admitted) however they cannot include it in their “piano di studi” as this course is equivalent to a Master degree course.
As this course is considered equivalent to the course “Pianificazione Strategica e Management della Sostenibilità” and awarded 12 CFU, Ca’ Foscari Master degree students – Management Department must integrate the 40 hours of in-class tuition with a minimum of 40 hours in seminars, field trips and VIULECTURES*.

*VIULECTURES is an initiative promoted by VIU to provide a platform for international and local professors to discuss key and current issues. Participation in the VIULECTURES is compulsory and counts towards the integration of 40 hours in seminars/field trips for students enrolled in Master degrees of the Department of Management.

Syllabus and Readings

ORIENTATION

Week 0 – February 19-23
Freshman fair

THEME I – INTROCUTION TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Week 1 – February 26-28

Monday, February 26
Interaction Between Society and Environment
Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: Book Ecological Economics, by Michael Common and Sigrid Stagl, Chapters 3-4.

Wednesday, February 28
Introduction to Sustainable Development
Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program on Sustainability, Venice International University)
Required Readings: Book Ecological Economics, by Michael Common and Sigrid Stagl, Chapter 5: 5.5.6.2, 5.4; Chapter 6: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3.6-6.6.3; Chapter 7; Chapter 10: 10.1. Rio Declaration; MDG.

THEME II – INTRODUCTION TO GLOBALIZATION

Week 2 – March 5-7

Monday, March 5
Globalization: an Historical Perspective – Part I: Pre-globalization to the Industrial revolution
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: R. Baldwin (2016), The Great Convergence. Harvard University press, ch.1 and 2; D. Rodrik (2011), The globalization Paradox, Norton & co., ch. 1 and 2.

Wednesday, March 7
Globalization: an Historical Perspective – Part II: The Old Globalization: from Industrial revolution to the 1990s
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: R. Baldwin (2016), The Great Convergence. Harvard University press, ch.2 and 4; D. Rodrik (2011), The globalization Paradox, Norton & co., ch. 4.

Week 3 – March 12-14

Monday, March 12
Globalization: an Historical Perspective – Part III: The New Globalization: from the 1990s to now
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: R. Baldwin (2016), The Great Convergence. Harvard University press, 2016, ch.3 and 5; D. Rodrik, The globalization Paradox, Norton & co. 2011 ch. 5, 6 and 9.

Wednesday, March 14
Globalization and Inequality
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: F. Bourguignon (2015), The globalization of inequality, Princeton University Press.
Suggested Readings: B. Milanovic (2016), Global Inequality. A new approach for the age of globalization, Harvard University Press.

THEME III – GLOBALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Week 4 – March 19-21

Monday, March 19
Development of the SD concept – The Rio Declaration
Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program on Sustainability, Venice International University)
Required Readings: Book Ecological Economics, by Michael Common and Sigrid Stagl, Chapter 10: 10.4; UN (1992), Rio Declaration; http://www.undp.org/mdg/; http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/reports.shtml, Required Readings: Chap. 10: 10.4, UN (2000), The Millennium Declaration; http://unsdsn.org/

Wednesday, March 21
Development of the SD concept: After Rio ’92
Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program on Sustainability, Venice International University)
Required Readings: UN 2012,The future we want; Final list of proposed Sustainable Development Goal indicators.

Week 5 – March 26-28

Monday, March 26
The Sustainable Development Goals
Dr Ilda Mannino (TEN Program on Sustainability, Venice International University)
Required Readings: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html
Reid A.J. et al. (2017). Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals still neglecting their environmental roots in the Anthropocene, Environmental Science and Policy 77, pp 179–184

Wednesday, March 28
Focus on SDGs 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production
Dr Ilda Mannino
Required Readings: Frosch R.A., Gallopoulos N. (1989). "Strategies for Manufacturing", Scientific American 9/89; Hertwich E. G. (2005). Hertwich E. G. (2005).  “Consumption and the Rebound Effect. An Industrial Ecology Perspective”, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Volume 9, Number 1–2; Jackson T. (2005).
Suggested Readings: Weng M. L. (2017). Inside the sustainable consumption theoretical toolbox: Critical concepts for sustainability, consumption, and marketing, Journal of Business Research 78 (2017) 69–80. Live Better by Consuming Less? Is There a “Double Dividend” in Sustainable Consumption?”, Journal of Industrial Ecology, Vol. 9, n. 1–2.

Mid-term break April 2 - April 6

THEME IV – GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Week 6 – April 9-11

Monday, April 9
Globalization, Economic Growth and the Environment: Introduction to Green Growth
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: I. Musu (2012), The difficult path to greening economic growth, VIU, 2014; R. Gordon, Is U.S. economic growth over? Faltering innovation confronts the six headwinds, NBER, WP 18315, august 2012.

Wednesday, April 11
Globalization and Green Growth: Strategies and Policies
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Readings: World Bank (2011), Inclusive Green Growth; I. Musu (2013), On Greening Economic Growth: a critical survey, VIU, 2014; D. Rodrik, Green Industrial Policies, Grantham Research Institute project on “Green Growth and the New Industrial Revolution”, September 2013.

Week 7 – April 16-18

Monday, April 16
The Challenge of Climate Change I: Lessons from Economic History and Economic Theory
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Reading: Stern N. (2015), Why Are We Waiting, MIT Press, Ch. 1-4

Wednesday, April 18
The Challenge of Climate Change II: Ethics and Action around the World: Porgress, Collaboration, Equity
Prof. Ignazio Musu (Ca’ Foscari University and TEN Program, Venice International University)
Required Reading: Stern N. (2015), Why Are We Waiting, MIT Press, Ch. 5-9

THEME V – SUSTAINABILITY IN PRACTICE – DESIGN THINKING LAB*
*in collaboration with the Department of Management, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Week 8 – April 23-25

Monday, April 23
Introduction to Design Thinking Methodology and Partners

Wednesday, April 25 National Holiday: no lesson
Rescheduled on Friday, April 27
Design Thinking, Stage I: Empathise

Week 9 – April 30- May 2

Monday, April 30
Design Thinking, Stage II: Define The problem

Wednesday, May 2
Design Thinking, Stage II: Define The problem

Week 10 – May 7-9

Monday, May 7
Design Thinking, Stage III: Ideate

Wednesday, May 9
Design Thinking, Stage III: Ideate

Week 11 – May 14-16

Monday, May 14
Design Thinking, Stage IV: Prototype

Wednesday, May 16
Design Thinking, Stage IV: Prototype

Week 12 – May 21-23

Monday, May 21
Design Thinking, Stage V: Test

Wednesday, May 23
Design Thinking, Stage V: Test
Due: Design Thinking Lab project

Week 13 – May 28-30
- Presentation of the Design Thinking Lab projects

Site visits

Site visit to Port of Venice and MOSE – Mobile Barriers Project (compulsory for all students).

Evaluation

Module Essays – There will be a short essay requested to each student for each module – 45% of the final grade.
Paper – There will be a group research paper required for the course – 45% of the final grade. 
Class participation – Overall class participation, in terms of both attendance and interaction, will count for 10% of the final grade.