Environmental management, innovation and ethics

Basic principles of environmental management approaches: Command and control, consensus, economic tools, CSR and ethics. Basic theory about regulation and innovation: Porter's hypothesis, technological lock-ins.Basic theory of ethics, emphasis on environmental ethics. Introduction to Backcasting, Impact Assessment (i.e. environmental economics), DPSIR analysis, Stakeholder analysis and Technology Assessment. Analysis of regulatory options when it comes to wicked environmental problems. The role of ethics, philosophy, science and engineering in society. Determinism, uncertainty, ignorance and indeterminacy. Technical and chemical risk management. Environmental principles. The precautionary principle.. The role of engineers as a specialist when it comes to social, environmental and ethical dilemmas. Interpretation of sustainability, moral community and the common versus opportunistic individual needs. How to write a policy brief. Developing policy recommendations. Development of AI agents.

The course aims at giving the students an understanding of the basic principles and tools of environmental management and regulation, with emphasis on innovation, uncertainty, regulation and the ethical challenges associated with environmental dilemmas and foresight. The students own development and use of AI agents is a fundamental element throughout the course. The approach is interdisciplinary and is intended to broaden the students' vision of society's environmental challenges, such as the increased use of technologies, resource extraction, mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Lectures, exercises, policy brief and recommendations developed in groups with the use of AI agents