Admission requirements
This course is a specialization module within the MSc Industrial Ecology (joint degree Leiden University and TU Delft).
To take part in the course, students must be familiar with matrix calculations and basic Python programming. A bachelor-level background in linear algebra and macroeconomics is helpful but not mandatory.
MSc IE students should have attended and successfully completed the course ‘Methods: Analysing Physical Processes (4413MAPPT).
Exchange students can only enroll for this course if their home university has an Exchange agreement with both Leiden University and TU Delft. Exchange students have to ask permission from the study advisor of Industrial Ecology as soon as possible, preferably six months before the start of the course.
Description
In this course, students systematically study Environmentally-extended Input-Output Analysis (EEIOA). EEIOA is a standard methodology for assessing environmental footprints (e.g. carbon footprints) and analyzing the production and consumption structures within one or across economies. Economic and environmental analyses are inherently integrated for EEIOA.
The course is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the fundamental concepts and quantifications of EEIOA, such as the monetary and physical input-output tables and environmental footprint calculations for nations. The second part of the course introduces several advanced EEIOA techniques and illustrates how they have been used for analyzing sustainability issues, such as the socio-economic and environmental effects of international trade and circular economy strategies, the main immediate drivers of changing environmental pressures imposed by human activities (e.g. CO2 emissions), and sustainable waste management from producers, consumers, and systems perspectives.
The course follows a hands-on approach. Each new lecture is accompanied by an individual assignment, in which students do exercises related to the new content and develop and apply python programming skills. As a 10-EC course, the weekly study load is about 10 hours.
Course objectives
After completing this course, students are expected to:
1. Understand the structures and key components of supply-use tables (SUTs), input-output (IO) tables, and main IO datasets.
2. Model, in Python, and analyze the economic and environmental effects of production and consumption activities and potential policies across supply chains.
3. Articulate the state-of-the-art EEIOA methods introduced in the course and their applications in sustainability research and real-world decision-making.
4. Develop and present a quantitative study using EEIOA, interpreting its main results and potential limitations.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
In most weeks there is a lecture to introduce the week’s new material (i.e. lecturing, 45×2=90 minutes), accompanied by practicals (i.e., teacher-led exercises, 45×2=90 minutes).
Assessment method
50% of the final grade will result from a mid-term exam, corresponding to learning objectives 1&3. The other 50% of the final grade will result from a final group project to be completed at the end of the course, corresponding to learning objectives 2-4. The final assignment consists of a quantitative study in which a set of the EEIOA methods learned during the course are applied to address sustainability-related questions in a meaningful way. The specific format of the assignment is clarified during the course, as it depends on the number of students enrolled.
Reading list
The textbook for the course is ‘Input-output Analysis – Foundations and Extensions’ by Ronald E. Miller and Peter D. Blair. . Reading materials (e.g. sections, chapters from the textbook, and scientific papers) will be assigned for the students to go through before each lecture. The list of reading materials is available in the Manual of the course. Course materials also include lecture slides, IO datasets, and code.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Coordinator: Dr. R. Wang and dr. F. Donati.
Remarks
We strongly recommend using the anaconda package (https://www.anaconda.com/) as the python development environment. It’s freely available for Windows, macOS, and Linux and comes with a code editor (Spyder). Likely you have been using the Anaconda package during the Earth System Science and Analysis course in Q1 of the academic year.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.