Environment and Climate Change Policy

Code:

M.EC044

Acronym:

PAAC

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Planning

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle2324.up.pt/course/view.php?id=4931
Responsible unit:	Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Civil Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M.EC	19	Syllabus	1	-	6	45,5

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

The Civil Engineer of the XXI century needs to understand in depth the causes and consequences of the major environmental challenges facing contemporary societies and, in particular, Climate Change, whose strategies for adaptation and mitigation include, among other measures, the design and construction of public and private works that sweep the spectrum of the current domains of civil engineering. Specifically, such projects and works should always be framed by territorial plans, at regional, urban or local scales, according to their spatial scope, constituting the reason for this UC. In fact, the program is designed to develop skills and competencies that will serve not only students who intend to follow the Spatial Planning and Transports specialization but also one of the other civil engineering specializations.

Learning outcomes and competences

The learning objectives of this course emphasize the understanding and awareness of the true nature of environmental conflicts in contemporary societies, with particular emphasis on climate change. The sequence of the subjects that compose this course was designed not only to reveal the economic causes and failures of the judicial system that justify public policies in the area of the environment but also to provide a history of the evolution of those policies, culminating in the final chapters with the introduction of the climate change issue and the role and importance of planning in its fight.

Working method

Presencial

Program

The nature of environmental conflicts in contemporary societies

 - The market economy and the genesis of environmental problems  

 - Externalities and public goods  

 - Market failures and administrative intervention

 - Civil law in the resolution of environmental conflicts  

  - Individual rights, property rights and types of actions  

 - Limitations and criticisms of the application of Civil Law to environmental conflicts

 - The need and foundations for Environment Policy

The four generations of environmental policies: genesis, development and criticism

 - Nature conservation

 - Pollution Control

 - Sustainable development  

- Climate change

The challenge of Climate Change

 - The contemporary debate: climatic variability and natural and anthropogenic action

 - Causes and effects of climate change

 - Carbon Economy and Climate Policy

 - Adaptive and mitigating strategies

Role and importance of Territorial Planning in combating climate change

 - Planning and Mitigation policies

 - Planning and Adaptive policies  

- Territorial policies and the relationship mitigation - adaptation  

- Synthesis: Advantages and limitations of territorial policies in the fight against climate change

Mandatory literature

Barbara Norman; Urban Planning for Climate Change, Routledge, 2022. ISBN: 9780367486006
Elisabeth M. Hamin Infield, Yaser Abunnasr, Robert L. Ryan; Planning for Climate Change A Reader in Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Design for Resilient Cities, Routledge, 2018. ISBN: 9780815391685
Field C.B., Barros V., Stocker T.F., Qin D., Dokken D.J., Ebi K.L., Mastrandrea M.D., Mach K.J., Plattner G.-K., Allen S.K., et al.; Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, Cambridge University Press, 2012
Lal, R. e Augustine, B.; Carbon Sequestration in Urban Ecosystems, Springer, 2012
Rosenzweig C., Solecki W.D., Hammer S.A., Mehrotra S.; Climate Change and Cities: First Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network., Cambridge University Press, 2011
Wilson E. e Piper J.; Spatial Planning and Climate Change, Routledge, 2010
Santos, F.D. e Miranda, P.; Alterações Climáticas em Portugal: Cenários, Impactos e Medidas de Adaptação - Projecto SIAM II, Gradiva, 2006

Complementary Bibliography

Torres, M. e Pinho, P.; Encouraging low carbon policies through a Local Emissions Trading Scheme (LETS), Cities, 28: 576-582, 2011
Victor, D.; Global Warming Gridlock. Creating More Effective Strategies for Protecting the Planet, Cambridge University Press, 2011
Bicknell J, Dodman D, Satterthwaite D; Adapting cities to climate change: understanding and addressing the development challenges, Earthscan, 2009
Davoudi, S., Crawford, J. e Mehmood, A.; Planning for Climate Change: Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation for Spatial Planners, Earthscan, 2009
Stern, N.; The economics of climate change: The stern review, Cambridge University Press, 2007
Ruth M.; Smart Growth and Climate Change, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006
Ruth, M. et al; Regional climate change and variability: Impacts and responses, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006
Giddens A.; The Politics of Climate Change, Polity Press, 2009. ISBN: ISBN13: 9780745655154
Pinkse, J. e Kolk, A.; International Business and Global Climate Change, Routledge, 2009

Teaching methods and learning activities

Lectures using audio visual facilities. Discussion of the main themes and issues in group. Monitoring and review of the initial exercises and of a number of sellected case studies. Presentation (group and individual) and class discussions of the progress of the work according to the established schedule

The teaching methodologies are adapted to the contents and objectives of the course following the program presented. In the first part of the program, with a more formative character, theoretical expositions and the group discussion on texts selected from the bibliography that highlight and clarify the multifaceted nature of the causes of environmental conflicts in contemporary societies are favored. In the second part of the course, more focused on the climate change issue, with more exploratory objectives and the development of a holistic view of the reality and the critical sense of the students, teaching methodologies are based on group discussions of concrete themes, involving spatial planning policies and engineering projects, and in previously selected case studies that should allow, whenever possible, study visits.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	50,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	45,50
Frequência das aulas	45,50
Trabalho escrito	27,50
Trabalho de investigação	27,50
Elaboração de projeto	16,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Achieving the final classification requires compliance with attendance of the course unit, according to the MEC assessment rules. It is considered that students meet the attendance requirements if, having been regularly enrolled, the number of absences of 25% for each of the classes’ types is not exceeded.

Calculation formula of final grade

FG = 0.5*PC + 0.5*TC

FG - Final Grade
PC - Pratical component - assignments, reports and presentations (in group and/or individual) - 50%

TC - Theoretical component - Written test or Individual Essay - 50%

All parts of the distributed assessment are mandatory for all students, regardless of their status.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Students with special statuses, who are not enforced to attend all classes, are not exempt from complying with the evaluation rules of this Course, namely, they are not exempt from any of the components of the distributed evaluation.

Classification improvement

Students who have already obtained approval can improve the final grade, only once, exclusively by Final Exam to be held in the Season immediately following the one in which they obtained approval.
As the classification improvement is carried out exclusively by the Final Exam regarding the Theoretical Component, there is no place to improve the classification of the Distributed Assessment tests.

There is the possibility to replace the writen exam with an oral exam to improve the final grade of the unit.

The Final Classification in the Course Unit is the highest, between the one that had been obtained initially and the one that results from the improvement in classification made.