Admission requirements
There are no compulsory pre-requisites, but having prior knowledge about economics, global megatrends in sustainability and population are a benefit. Having followed the advanced IO course would provide a better understanding of national accounts and how GDP is built up and measured.
The course is aimed at first-year IE and GoS students. There will be a maximum of 20 students allowed in the course (15 from IE and 5 from GoS). This will be on the basis of first-come-first-serve (online registration not email).
Description
The recent Beyond-Growth conference in Brussels in May 2023 was symbolic of the renewed interest in beyond-growth paradigms such as degrowth, green growth and Doughnut Economics. Fundamentally these discussions are all about achieving inclusive and sustainable well-being, but they differ significantly in their proposals. Given the many ecological and social crises of our time, the discussion could not be more urgent.
Yet warnings about the limits to growth have been around for many decades. It is not sufficient to simply repeat the problems or suggesting policy solutions. The main problem of society is one of implementation: the available diagnosis and solutions are not sufficiently adopted.
This course will provide students with scientific tools and insights which will help them develop their ideas about how to work towards concrete implementation of post-growth ideas. This will require knowledge of the scientific and empirical literature as well as an understanding of the role of institutions and narratives in shaping society.
Course objectives
After this course students will be able to:
Theory of Change
Understand how economic narratives became so powerful at the technical, governance/policy levels.
Assess and analyses the major Beyond Growth initiatives in the European Union, OECD and at the United Nations.
Technical Level
Understand the scientific underpinnings of movements such as De-growth and Green growth
Understand the long-term relationships between economic growth, wellbeing, inequalities and sustainability
Understand the theories behind the top Beyond-GDP metrics and be able to link them to accounting structures like input-output tables and the system of environmental-economic accounts (SEEA).
Understand a WISE accounting system which provides an interdisciplinary alternative to the System of National Accounts (which prescribes how to measures GDP).
Analyze and interpret the WISE database hosted at www.beyond-GDP.world
Understand the insights from the major models related to well-being, inclusion and sustainability (ecological-economic models, sufficiency models, Earth4all, IAMS etc)
Governance/Policy Level
Know the governments that have been experimenting with the well-being economy and understand how national governments and international institutes are involved.
Understand the thinking behind the Policy guide of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll).
Understand how governance and policy interact by analyzing the Inflation Reduction Act or European Green Deal
Narrative Level
Develop ideas about why post-growth is not covered in media or through other channels. This will be done based on a case study of the media coverage of the Beyond-Growth conference.
Think of strategies to spread post-growth narratives.
Analyse the framework of Jonathan Haidt, to understand the different moral foundations that people have, including typical progressives an conservatives, and its implications for narratives in society.
Link the role of scientific and activist communication in the theory of change
Skills
Demonstrate skills working collaboratively with peers.
Be able to empirically analyze long term developments in wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability and other underlying foundations such as economic growth, governance, technology etc.
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
The course is based on interactive lectures with a lot of group discussions. There will also be one week with external guest speakers for which the students will have to prepare questions. In addition, two weeks will be reserved for the group presentations.
Assessment method
Assessment
There are two group presentations which will be judged. Groups will be 2-3 people depending on the number of people joining the course. The two topics are:
1) Beyond-GDP metrics. Students will be asked to analyze the technical aspects of 1-2 metrics and also analyze their influence on governance/policy and the narratives that can be told with them.
2) Pitching a beyond-growth policy to a progressive and conservative audience. Using the framework of Jonathan Haidt, students will learn alternative ways to frame their arguments.
In addition, the students will be asked to write a short report with an empirical analysis (kaya decomposition or other analysis) of the development of wellbeing, inclusion or sustainability over the long term. This will be discussed in a 25 minute oral exam.
Weighing
The first presentation is 20% of the final grade and the second 30%. The report and interview will be 50% of the grade.
Resit
The groups will be allowed to redo the presentations, if the first time is deemed insufficient. The interview can also be retaken.
Reading list
Relevant literature and study material will be communicated and disclosed on BrightSpace Leiden University.
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. Rutger Hoekstra
Other involved teachers: Annegeke Jansen, Inge Schrijver and 3 external speakers.
Remarks
MSc Industrial Ecology students can register for the course and exam via MystudyMap. Other students need to contact the study advisors of the programme via studyadvisor-ie@cml.leidenuniv.nl
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.