Sustainable Development and Macroeconomics

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label Diverse autorenew 2025-09-29, 17:01 history_edu Silviu Marinescu
The term "Sustainable Development" has become popular after the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Brundtland Commission Report (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) has made a great contribution by emphasizing the importance of sustainable development and by giving the most often-quoted definition: "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."The starting point of theory formation is the ethical idea of sustainability.

It is based on obligations toward future generations and presupposes intergenerational equity. Concerning specific resources and services (e.g. fresh water, the atmosphere as a carbon sink, the wide variety of ecosystem) it is evident that continuing growth at this rate of utilization is unsustainable.In this course a simple world model is the basis for structuring a concept of sustainability. Analysts with different perspectives have applied criteria of sustainability which emphasize the ability of the economy to maintain living standards. This course examines these criteria.

The main limit in our ecosystem is the carrying capacity for human influences controlled by the world population and satisfaction of needs. The limits of ecosystems have an impact on our economic system if sustainability will be implemented. How should mankind deal with natural resources especially with nonrenewables? How should mankind solve problems like poverty and wastage? What are the consequences for industrial and developing nations? Contents of the course:

• What is Sustainability?

• The history of Sustainability

• Neoclassical Economics and Sustainable Development

• Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development

• Economic growth and Sustainable Development



• Main problems of mankind (Wastage and Poverty, Environmental Degradation)

Period
05-08-2013 - 23-08-2013 (3 weeks)

Target group
Bachelor students

Course aim
Students learn about the term Sustainable Development and how to achieve sustainability in our world. They get a critical insight into economic growth and the meaning of development. This will be accomplished by applying economic theory and evaluating empirical evidence how to use unlimited and limited resources in the context of sustainability.

Credits
5.0 ECTS credits

Course fee
EUR 0: Students on a bilateral exchange programme do not have to pay. Freemovers are obliged to pay participation fees while tuition fees only apply to freemovers from countries outside the EU/ EEA/ Switzerland.

Course leader
Dina Barbian, University of Erlangen-Nrnberg, Germany

Aarhus University International Centre
Address: Hoeg Guldbergs Gade 4, building 1650 Aarhus C
Postal code: 8000
City: Aarhus
Country: Denmark
Website: http://www.au.dk/summeruniversity
E-mail: SummerUniversity@adm.au.dk
Phone: +45 8942 2320