Profilseminar: Mapping the Interplay between Nature and Economy
Institution
Business, Economics, and Social Sciences
Department
Volkswirtschaftslehre
Teaching staff
Prof. Dr. Andreas Lange, Björn Bos
SDG-topic cluster
Nature conservation and sustainable use of resources, Climate change
Comments/contents
The link between economy and nature is evident. Mapping the interplay between nature and economy requires a multifacetted view on both economic decisions and their consequence for the environment as well as a deep understanding how the environment only allows economic activity. Instructions in this seminar are given by Prof. Dr. em. Malte Faber (Universität Heidelberg) and Prof. Dr. Andreas Lange. This seminar will explore fundamental concepts as time, thermodynamics, evolution, homo politicus and justice to explore the foundations of economic activity within nature. While often in economics, nature is reduced to providing inputs to economic activity and to being impacted through (external) effects caused through consumption or production, we explore the link between nature and economy in a broader and more integrated framework. With this, we discuss concepts within ecological economics by applying economic thinking to nature, both spatially and intertemporally, with a particular focus on sustainability and justice, but also by using knowledge from other disciplines such as natural sciences, political sciences, ethics, philosophy, psychology, and history. The seminar is guided by the the MINE website (http://nature-economy.de/) which provides a a visual map and links to important concepts discussed in the seminar. The research behind MINE began in the 1970s at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in an interdisciplinary group spearheaded by Professor Malte Faber, including scientists from economics to mathematics, physics and philosophy. The research has contributed to the field of Ecological Economics.
Semester
WiSe 19/20
Center for a Sustainable University
Mittelweg 177
20148 Hamburg
www.nachhaltige.uni-hamburg.de