Circular Economy and Degrowth Principles

The conventional economic model is based on the hypothesis of infinite growth, made of virtual bank money. Nonetheless it also requires considerable inputs of energy and materials, which are not infinite have an impact on our planet and often fail to deliver social wellbeing. In order to cope with environmental limits, much is said about the need to make the economy more circular: a more circular economy, although necessary, might not be enough as we learn from ecological economics.
The course aims at presenting a new perspective in the economic field by relating it to the environment (planetary boundaries) and sustainable development goals. It considers the limits of the green circular economy, growth’s main dilemmas and its implications for society and the environment. You will contrast the trade-offs between economic growth (and job creation) and environmental protection with social justice and will learn about the new perspective of Degrowth.
The course will adopt Team-Based Learning a novel teaching method in which as students you have to read and watch compulsory material before coming to the class; you will work in teams and be evaluated with a series of closed-answer quizzes, with the presentation of documentary videos and of book extracts or brief reports.
The first hour of class will be dedicated to these evaluations or to interactive discussions based on the assignments given in preparation for the class. The second hour will normally consist of a taught class. In the third hour tutorials will be offered and your doubts resolved. A couple of hours of guided activities will follow, mainly related to watching videos or learning about the environmental justice atlas, the economics of the Donut and its application at city level or to social multi-criteria evaluation.
Week | Contents | Teaching / lerning activites |
---|---|---|
1 | The circular economy and its ecological limitations |
Monday: presentation of the course. Tuesday to Friday: compulsory home readings, quiz, short class, video watching, team work, class presentation and discussion. |
2 | Applications of Circular Economics, and the Donut Economy |
Compulsory home readings, quiz, short class, video watching, team work, class presentation and discussion. |
3 | Degrowth principles, field trips in town | Monday and Tuesday: compulsory home readings, quiz, short class, video watching, team work, class presentation and discussion. |
From 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Class 003 (Ground floor), Faculty of Translation and Interpretation.
Outputs and exercises that the student is going to do to have the qualification. Including deadlines.
NOTE that one day before the end of the period the student’s performance must be completely evaluated and communicated to summer@uab.cat.
Class attendance, with signature sheet, 35% of the final mark, with 100% attendance = 10, 50% = 5 and so on.
-
From day 2 to day 13 of the course: 5-6 team-based closed-answer quizzes, based on the compulsory readings in preparation for the class. [Contributing to 25% of the final mark].
-
From day 2 to day 12 of the course: group video presentations –depending on the size of the team and the number of enrolled students, each team will present once in class. [Contributing to 20% of the final mark].
-
By the beginning of week 3 prepare a report based on an environmental conflict that the team has to analyze, for uploading in the Atlas of Environmental Justice (ejatlas.org). [Contributing to 20% of the final mark]. By the end of the class on day 13 (Wednesday of week 3) the student evaluation will have been completely evaluated and communicated.
Week 1
- Readings will be available from this online book (most in Part I and Part II): Daly, H. and Farley, J. Ecological Economics Principles And Applications
- Raworth, K., 2017. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist.
Week 2
- A tutorial booklet on Social Multicriteria Evaluation (attached, with further readings in the reference section)
- Doughnut Economics Action Lab: Creating City Portraits, a Methodological Guide
Week 3
- Analyze and discuss part of the book “Degrowth, a vocaboulary for a new era” and the book “Pluriverse”
- Reading of papers related to degrowth
- 5-6 activities from this website
Claudio Cattaneo holds a PhD in environmental science is contract professor of Ecological Economics at UAB where he directs the ICTA-UAB masters in Political Ecology Degrowth and Environmental Justice and the online masters in Degrowth, Ecology, Economics and Policy. He is a consultant in Barcelona Regional, applying the framework of the donut economics for the municipality of Barcelona. He is also a member of Research and Degrowth and of the Can Masdeu eco-community, in the hills of Barcelona. His research interests are related to degrowth studies, the donut economics, the squatters movement and other socioenvironmental studies. He his author of several papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters and editor ofthe book “The Squatters Movementin Europe, Pluto Press”.
- Department of Economy and History of Economics
- E-mail: Claudio.cattaneo@uab.cat