Course syllabus

Jump to today

Course-PM

TRA420 TRA420 Modeling climate futures: Science, economics, ethics and policy lp1 HT24 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Tracks

Course management

Course coordinator:

Erik Sterner, Environment for Development (EfD), University of Gothenburg

Email: erik.sterner@efd.gu.se

Course Assistant:
Viking Lindberg, EfD, University of Gothenburg

Email: viking.lindberg@gu.se  

Course examiner:
Martin Persson, Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers
Email: martin.persson@chalmers.se

Objective

This course aims to equip students with the interdisciplinary tools and knowledge necessary to analyze and address the complex challenges of climate change, particularly regarding carbon pricing and emission pathways. The course integrates key concepts from climate science, economics, and ethics, fostering the development of practical digital resources that can inform real-world policy decisions. By the end of the course, students will have a deep understanding of how to model climate futures and contribute to evidence-based decision-making processes.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:

  1. master problems with open solutions spaces which includes to be able to handle uncertainties and limited information.
  2. work in multidisciplinary teams and collaborate in teams with different compositions
  3. show insights about and deal with the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environment and societal context.
  4. orally and in writing explain and discuss information, problems, methods, design/development processes and solutions
  5. apply and interpret Integrated Assessment Models, assessing their strengths and limitations in the context of climate change economics and policy analysis including:
  • applying core climate physics insights through modifying climate models
  • model and interpret key aspects of the economics of climate change: damages, discounting, mitigation costs
  • analyze and critique the integration of the natural science description of the climate physics with social science descriptions of the economic system and technological development in IAM models
  • critically evaluate the ethical implications of assumptions and parameters in integrated assessment models
  1. design and develop user-friendly, digital resources that communicate complex climate scenarios and policy implications to selected non-technical audiences, including policymakers and other key stakeholders
  2. explore and reflect on the risks and opportunities with using AI in the development and for potential use within the digital resource(s) created

 

Contents

The course will be structured around the following key components:

  1. Introduction to Climate Science and Social Cost of Carbon
    Understanding the basics of the social cost of carbon, key aspects of climate physics, and the role of climate emulators.
  2. Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and Climate Economics
    An exploration of IAMs, focusing on their application in climate policy, including economic concepts like discounting, growth, and mitigation costs.
  3. Ethical and Social Considerations in estimating the Social Cost of Carbon
    Analyzing the ethical and political dimensions of using climate modeling to assess the societal costs of carbon emissions.
  4. Project Work and Practical Application
    Students will engage in a project throughout the course, developing a digital tool/resource or analysis that addresses real-world climate challenges in dialogue with 1-2 main stakeholders.
  5. Stakeholder Engagement (and Communication)
    Developing strategies/approaches for engaging with stakeholders to understand their perspectives and for effective communication around climate economic modelling.

Teachers

  • Martin Persson (MP) – Ethics.
  • Daniel Johansson (DJ) - Climate Science+ Integrated Assessment Models
  • Thomas Sterner (TS) - Environmental Economics and policy
  • Susanne Pettersson (SP) – Modelling, project supervision
  • Erik Sterner (ES) – Course coordinator + a bit of several things.
  • Viking Lindberg (VL) - Course facilitator and potential project coordinator
  • Guest Lecturers - Various experts from related fields

Teaching Arrangements and Methods

The course will employ a combination of seminars, workshops, case studies, and project-based learning:

  • Core Seminars and Workshops: These sessions will introduce key concepts and provide basic knowledge of IAMs and other tools.
  • Project Work: Students will work in interdisciplinary teams on a project that runs throughout the course. This project will be the primary focus of the course and will culminate in a final presentation and report.
  • Optional Seminars/Workshops: Additional sessions will be offered based on the specific focus of the projects, covering topics such as technology in climate mitigation and climate communication.
  • Flipped Classroom Elements: Students will be expected to complete pre-class preparations, including readings, exploring models and watching recorded lectures, to fully participate in the interactive class sessions. The preparations are estimated to take 2-4 hours in advance of each of the core seminars.

Course Digital Learning Platform - Canvas

All course materials, including readings, recorded lectures, and project resources, will be available on the Canvas platform. Students should ensure they are registered on Ladok (and Canvas) to access the course content. If you experience any issues accessing the platform, please contact the course assistant (Viking).

Examination/Compulsory Activities

The course will be assessed through a combination of participation, project work, and individual assignments (more info. (including grading criteria) for each of the graded components will be posted on Canvas in advance of deadlines).:

  • Participation in Seminars and Workshops: It is mandatory to attend 7 out of 10 core seminars. (make up assignments can be done for 3 of these 7).
  • Mid-Course Project Presentation: This presentation will account for 25% of the final grade and will assess the progress and integration of interdisciplinary knowledge.
  • Assignments –
    • Project proposal, a simplified project proposal (including a preliminary stakeholder analysis etc.) for approval and feedback (grading: Compulsory to pass).
    • Mid course deliverable, 30 % of the grade, (this will be sub-team specific. See project description. Further details on this will be announced when the project has been defined).
    • Individual Reflective Essay: A brief reflective essay will require students to critically assess their learning process and contributions to the project. (grading: Compulsory to pass)
  • Final Project Presentation and Report: The final presentation (20%) and report (25%), worth in total 45% of the grade, will evaluate the originality, applicability, and quality of the project outputs and the students’ performance toward the learning outcomes.

Grading System:
Grades are awarded on a Fail/3 (Pass)/4/5 scale, with the following criteria:

  • 3 (Pass): Achieving at least 40% of the total points.
  • 4: Achieving at least 60% of the total points.
  • 5: Achieving at least 80% of the total points.

The points will be awarded as 1 point per percent of the total grade. Each of the graded course components will be described in more detail separately with descriptions of what’s needed to obtain different point levels (for that course component). In order to receive a final grade on the course we require active participation in 7 of the core seminars, the mid-course project seminar and the final project seminar/dialogue (make up assignments can be done for 3 of these 7).

 

Course Evaluation and Documentation

The course will be evaluated continuously in line with Chalmers course evaluation system. In addition to this we aim to evaluate the learning environment and certain new types of course activities in the course. If you have any feedback about anything regarding the course please don't hesitate to contact us in a form of your own preference. (Timely (and forward looking) feedback is most often the best type of feedback 😊).

Preparations and schedule

Students are advised to:

  • Familiarize themselves with the Canvas platform (in particular the first/home page and the next page), schedule and course materials.
  • Check out the Glossary and illustrative Short Stories page to get accustomed to some of the (basic) concepts which will come up in the course which it can be nice to be familiar with in advance (but of course – we don’t expect you to learn all of this by heart from day 1 – do always ask (us, an AI or a peer) if you are unsure about a concept being discussed in class)!
  • Check out and play around a bit with En-Roads, which will be used in the first class as a starting point to explore a few of the key topics and questions of the course.

 

Schedule

Here is the latest version of the (preliminary) course schedule (LINK) and in TimeEdit.

 

Course literature

With input from the teaching team, students will develop the ability to identify and acquire relevant literature throughout their projects. A key article for the course is: Hänsel, Martin C., et al. "Climate economics support for the UN climate targets." Nature Climate Change 10.8 (2020): 781-789, which signals the teaching team¿s established position at the knowledge frontier on the main topic of this course. We introduce the course overall objective with the En-ROADS climate solution simulator and then progress to a version of the DICE model for the main analysis and exploration of integrated assessment models. The course's digital resources (articles, video clips, weblinks etc.) will be made available using the Canvas learning platform.

Course summary:

Date Details Due