Development and Sustainability (MESS08) constitutes the last course on the second term at the LUMES programme, (level: 20 – 40 credits, 30 – 60 ECTS credits in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science). The course is compulsory for all the LUMES students.
Objectives
At the end of the course the student should
• have acquired a genuine appreciation of the legitimacy of the concerns of economic growth
and development and the requirements of sustainability, especially in developing countries
• have acquired a clear understanding of the clash between developmentalism and
environmentalism in terms of their respective aims and values, and of the trade-offs
involved
• have acquired a deeper understanding of different approaches to sustainable development
and the policy implications of different approaches or paradigms
• have become familiar with a number of real-life problems of sustainable development in
developing countries
• be able to critically assess the implicit assumptions, approaches, values, etc., in concrete
cases (e.g. official reports of national and international bodies) and to recognize the practical
implications thereof
• be able to use in a consistent manner the analytical concepts and tools of different
paradigms of sustainable development when faced with concrete cases.
Course Content
Central concerns, concepts and tools in economics and development studies; different paradigms in economics and development studies; the clash of development concerns and those of environment, trade-offs, problem of sustainability, different approaches to (paradigms of) sustainable development; policy implications and the question of agent of change; comparing different approaches and discourses.
Course Design
The course is comprised of lectures, seminars, group discussions, students’ presentations, group/individual assignments/papers, and a mock conference. Case studies are used to facilitate for the students to i) gain empirical knowledge; ii) practice the application of different approaches to sustainability with a stress on consistency in conceptual analysis and practical policy implications.
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