Course syllabus

Course-PM

TRA420 Modeling climate futures: Science, economics, ethics and policy lp1-lp2 HT25 (7.5 hp)

 

Find formal course syllabus here: Modeling climate futures: Science, economics, ethics and policy | Chalmers 

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).

 

Course management

Course primary contact email: courses@efd.gu.se

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

 

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: Project sessions will be tailored and one additional session 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 1-3 hours in advance of each of the core seminars.

Course Digital Learning Platforms - Canvas and Teams

We will use two platforms. Canvas will be used for everything not directly related to the project (i.e. lecture/core seminar materials, including readings and recorded lectures). A dedicated Teams area will be used for the project part of the course (more info will come about this when we start the course). So in general you will notice that we will use Canvas the first 1/3 of the course and then switch over to using Teams for the project (which is the main activity the latter 2/3 of the course).

 

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 11 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, 25 % 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 (25%) and report (25%), worth in total 50% 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).

 

 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 through whatever channel you prefer. (Timely (and forward looking) feedback is most often the best type of feedback 😊).

 

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.