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ECON30610

Academic Year 2024/2025

Economics of Natural Resources (ECON30610)

Subject:
Economics
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Economics
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Professor Lisa Ryan
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

In a world where human pressure and economic activities stress the environment by exploiting fisheries, forests, minerals, energy sources, and other environmental resources that affect the welfare of current and future generations, economists have an important role in assessing and developing policy to achieve sustainable economic development. This course applies economic theory to the allocation of scarce natural resources and explains the methodologies used. It will equip students with the tools to participate in discussions on natural resource management through an economic lens. The module introduces students to both standard environmental economics and the broader perspective of ecological economics, balancing analytical techniques of environmental economics topics with a global perspective on current ecological issues such as population growth, global climate change, biodiversity, and "green" national income accounting. More broadly, we will discuss the concepts of sustainable development and the recent ideas of doughnut economics. Theory and tools will be developed and applied to case studies from around the world.
Students should have taken at least the module Introduction to microeconomics before taking this module.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completing this module students should be able to
(a) Identify and evaluate environmental and resource issues from an economics perspective,
(b) Apply the principles and concepts of economic theory to resolving natural resource management issues,
(c) Appraise and question policies and programmes for natural resource management,
(d) Explain and analyse key issues associated with sustainable development globally and locally.

Indicative Module Content:

The key topics covered in this module are:
- Introduction to the relationship between economic growth and natural resource use
- Theory of externalities and public goods
- Ecological economics and environmental accounting
- Nonrenewable resources
- Renewable resources
- Energy transition
- Concept of doughnut economics

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

76
Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The learning approach will combine lectures with group discussions, task-based learning, and independent reading.
Artifical intelligence (AI) may be used in this module in the following ways:
- To generate ideas and organise the structure of the essays.
- To start a literature review and find relevant papers.
- To understand main concepts/theories and find definitions.
- To correct grammar and improve the writing style of your own work.
- To assist with reference formatting.
Students are required to explicitly state whether AI was used in the assignment and in what ways. Also, you are required to provide a reference for the software used, and what prompts (if any) where used. It is not acceptable to copy and paste entire AI-generated answers, as this is considered to be plagiarism.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): Final exam End of trimester
Duration:
2 hr(s)
 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No
50
 No
Exam (Online): Mid-term exam Week 7 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No
20
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Homeworks and short quizzes throughout the trimester Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No
30
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring Yes - 2 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Name Role
Ms Nadiya Saba -- Tutor

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 12:00 - 12:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 Tues 10:00 - 10:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 9 Tues 10:00 - 10:50
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