Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica "Cognetti de Martiis"

The NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT course is co-taught by S. Dalmazzone and G. Garrone. It aims at providing the basic economic concepts of natural resource management along with the analytical tools needed to make them operational. The course presupposes competences acquired in the courses of Governance of economic processes, Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences, Environmental Economics.

Students should reach a good knowledge of the course topics and be able to thoughtfully use the tools acquired. The acquisition of these skill will be subject to verification as described in the exam section.

Written exam (duration 90 minutes) + teamwork and presentations. The exam text includes:

(a) a series of True/false questions, whose objective is to evaluate the extent to which a student has covered all fundamental topics;
(b) a brief exercise aimed at testing a student's capacity to apply the conceptual tools acquired during the course;
(c) an open question, out of a choice of two, whose objective is verifying the depth of a student's knowledge, his/her engagement in further reading, and the matured critical capability.

Before the end of the course students will be offered the opportunity to engage in a mock exam, so as to get acquainted with the final exam's format and test one's learning level.

In addition to the final written exam, students regularly attending the course will be invited to take part to a teamwork (bibliographic research, reading and critical discussion) on the following themes:

- Management of forest resources and their ecosystem services
- Water services management in Italy
- Energy: quantity-based Vs. price-based RES incentive mechanisms - theory and empirical experiences
- Biodiversity and ecosystem services: Economic value and protection policies
- Energy security and the management of a non –renewable natural resource: The case of natural gas in the European market.
- Food production: Alternative routes and conflicting visions.
- Urban solid waste management: Real world experiences
- Privatizations in natural resource management: The case of water

Based on the reading list supplied by teachers and further readings, the team will develop a critical essay of 3000-3500 words, who will receive a unitary evaluation in the range +1-3 points on each student’s final exam mark.

One or two tutorial classes will be offered to help students test their ability to solve analytical problems pertaning optimal exploitation models. 

The programme covers the following topics:

- Socio-ecological systems and ecosystem services.

- Role of natural resources in economic development.

- Efficient and optimal use of natural capital: non-renewable resources.

- Fossil fuels: scarcity, environmental impacts, costs and prospects of exhaustion. Security of supply. Efficient and optimal management of reserves. 

- Alternative energies: hydrogen, renewables, biofuels. Technological innovation and competitiveness.

- Efficient and optimal use of natural capital: renewable resources.

- The state of world marine resources and their management policies

- The state of global forest resources and their management policies.

- Water supply. Scarcity: models and management scenarios. Water pollution: policies and instruments.

- Biodiversity loss, resilience and stability of ecosystems.

- International agreements: Convention on Biological Diversity, Biosafety Protocol, and national strategies and Clearing House Mechanism.

The bibliography will consist of articles published in scientific journals, documents of international organizations and chapters from the following textbooks, according to specific instructions that will be provided during the course.


- Perman R., Ma Y., J. Mc Gilvray, Common M. (2011), Natural Resources and Environmental Economics, Harrow, UK: Pearson education, 4th edition.
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), Washington: Island Press
- Baland JM and JP Platteau (1996), Halting Degradation and Natural Resources, Oxford: OUP.


A detailed syllabus will be provided during the classes and will be available on the course website. The Teamwork reading list will be made available in class and online under 'Materiale Didattico' (Teaching Material).