Identifying changes in the environment and risk management

Abstract

Science and technology have made it possible to use scarce environmental resources for the secondary production of a wide range of products. This has also led to unintended consequences and negative externalities such as pollution from waste, greenhouse gasses, toxic substances, and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. The absence of a market and other institutional mechanisms for the efficient and sustainable allocation of natural resources requires a deep knowledge of the commons, its substantial and functional properties, and its maximal sustainable yield. The resulting challenge is the adaptation of society to climate change and extreme natural events.

Through the three courses of the proposed micro-qualification (Management of Common Goods, Extreme Natural and Social Events, and Data Processing Methods in Natural and Social Sciences), students will be able to analyse the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on social and economic activities, the possibilities of designing institutional mechanisms for the efficient management of common goods, learn to apply appropriate statistical, econometric, and data processing methods on real problems and use modelling methods aimed at predicting risks resulting from extreme events in nature.