Environmental and ecological transition policies

Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS)

The topic

Over the last 30 years, there has been a growing realisation that the world is finite, that there are boundaries to what the planet can provide us and that many of our natural resources are very limited. This topic not only involves nature conservation, the environment and natural resources but also, more broadly, all the public policies dealing with the exploitation of those resources, such as policies on energy, industry and services, infrastructure, urban planning, housing, land-use planning, transport, agriculture and even defence.

The numerous findings and reports that have revealed critical situations in multiple domains related to the relationships between humans and their environment—including the climate, biodiversity, landscapes, energy, resource extraction, waste and polluting emissions (e.g. into water, the air or soil)—make fundamental structural transformations imperative. These changes imply an overhaul of the organisation and functioning of numerous sectors, as well as the public policies and the legal property regimes that regulate them.

Within the framework of this CAS, the ecological transition is envisaged as a fundamentally binary process. Firstly, it involves a paradigm shift in environmental policies, ranging from widespread restrictions on emissions to more sustainable resource management. Secondly, it involves the greening of the policies surrounding the exploitation of environmental resources (energy, land-use planning, mobility, agriculture, industry and so on).

This course will cover the principal challenges relating to the ecological transition by using tools for the analysis of public policy and property rights.

Objectives

Take stock of the environmental policies and other public policies supporting the ecological transition.
Put into perspective debates on the methods for diagnosing the impacts of human activities on crucial resource systems: planetary boundaries, environmental footprints, doughnut economics, material flow analyses, etc.
Take stock of the different contemporary projects and debates concerning the ecological transition, such as sustainable resource management, the fight against climate change, the energy transition, sustainable transportation, urban densification, the circular economy, local agriculture and permaculture, and even moderating consumption.
Discuss current ideas and evaluate proposed solutions—notably in terms of instruments such as quotas and restrictions, economic and fiscal incentives, mechanisms to improve flexibility, subsidies, etc.—resulting from these contemporary projects and debates so that the nuts and bolts of the ecological transition, and all the social and economic transformations that this will entail, can be thought of and examined in a realistic, transversal manner.

Target audience

Students studying for the MAS in Public Administration (MPA).
Political leaders and administrative officials in the fields of environmental policy, nature conservation, land and biodiversity management, regional and urban planning, energy, transport and mobility, agriculture or economic development, etc.
Professionals working in any of these fields.
The representatives of political parties, umbrella and professional associations, interest groups, think tanks and NGOs working in these fields.
Researchers and PhD students.

Information

French is the main teaching language for this program
More information available on the corresponding pages

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Objectives

Introduce participants to the tools necessary for environmental policy analysis and for other public policies involved in the ecological transition (energy, transport and land-use planning policies).
Critically assess the latest knowledge about the design, functioning and effects of the different public policies associated with sustainability and the ecological transition.
Provide an overview of the different contemporary debates that have developed within the context of the emerging framework supporting sustainability, and then, more recently, within the context of the ecological transition: sustainable resource management, the struggle against climate change, the energy transition, urban densification, the circular economy, sustainable mobility, et cetera.
Discuss avenues for reflection and the potential solutions resulting from contemporary debates in order to think about the nuts and bolts of the ecological transition in a realistic and transversal manner.

Target audience

Students studying for the MAS in Public Administration (MPA).
Political and administrative leaders or officials involved in the policy domains of the environment, nature conservation, landscapes and biodiversity, land-use planning, energy, transport and mobility, agriculture or economic development.
Professionals working in the domains of the environment, land-use planning, energy and mobility.
Representatives of political parties, interest groups, think tanks and NGOs working in these domains.
Researchers and PhD students.

Speakers (subject to modifications)

Name	Function
Philippe Thalmann	Professor of Environmental Economics, EPFL



Valérie Boisvert	Professor of Environmental Economics, UNIL
Jean-David Gerber	Professor of Political Urbanism and Sustainable Spatial Development, University of Bern
Augustin Fragnière	Deputy Director, Competence Centre in Sustainability, UNIL



Thierry Largey	Professor of Public Law, UNIL
Nils Moussu	Scientific officer, Sanu Durabilitas Foundation, Bienne



Rémi Schweizer	Cantonal climate commissioner for the Canton of Vaud
Julia Steinberger	Professor of Ecological Economics, UNIL
Adèle Thorens	Member of the Council of States for the Canton of Vaud

Programme (subject to modifications)

I. Theory and concepts

Environmental policy analysis: principles, concepts, design, tools and assessment
Land-use planning policy analysis: principles, concepts, design, tools and assessment
Sustainability, the ecological transition and institutional resource regimes: approaches, definitions and concepts.

II. Sectoral approaches

Sustainable land-use planning: the struggle against urban sprawl and the challenges of densification
Integrated water resources management
Climate policy 1—From international to local policy
Climate policy 2—Policy instruments

III. Cross-cutting themes

Landscape conservation and managing biodiversity and genetic resources
Urban policy: coordinating land-use planning and transport/mobility
The energy transition
Waste and the circular economy
Presentations of students’ coursework

Teaching methods

This CAS is organised around a combination of theoretical and conceptual presentations, case studies, lectures by experts and practitioners, and group activities that will enable students to apply the analytical tools and knowledge presented to them within the framework of their course.

Students’ coursework, required for the validation of the CAS, will be made up of a contextualised compilation of the different group activities carried out on class days.

Bibliography

Da Cunha, A., Knoepfel, P., Leresche, J.-Ph., Nahrath, S. (Ed.). (2005). Les enjeux du développement urbain durable. Forme urbaine, gestion des ressources et gouvernance. Lausanne: Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes.

Gerber, J.-D., Knoepfel, P., Nahrath, S., Varone F. (2009). Institutional Resource Regimes: Towards sustainability through the combination of property-rights theory and policy analysis. Ecological Economics, 68(3), 798-809.

Knoepfel, P., Nahrath, S., Savary, J., Varone, F. (2010). Analyse des politiques suisses de l'environnement. Zürich/Chur: Ruegger Verlag.

Ingold, K., Nahrath, S. (2022). Politiques environnementales et d’aménagement du territoire. In Y. Papadopoulos, Sciarini, P., Vatter, A., Häusermann, S., Emmenegger, P., Fossati, F. (Ed.), Handbuch der Schweizer Politik - Manuel de la politique suisse (pp. 835-856). Zürich: NZZ Libro.

Practical information and Registration

Course Manager

Prof. Stéphane Nahrath

Dates, time and place

Every Wednesday from 20 September to 20 December 2023 (except 27 September and 25 October), from 9.15 a.m. to 4.15 p.m. in the IDHEAP building.

Main teaching language

French

Registration fees

CHF 3,900 for the entire course (including all documentation), which should be paid on receipt of the invoice, and by the start of the course at the latest.

A discount of 5%, up to a maximum of CHF 500 per course, is available to any IDHEAP alumni—holding an MPA, DAS or CEMAP, an IDHEAP PhD or a Master’s in PMP—who wish to follow a CAS course or a Seminar for Specialists and Executives organised by IDHEAP. This reduction does not apply to participants in the DAS who subsequently wish to follow the MPA course.

Any decision to withdraw from the course must be made in writing. If withdrawal from the course is announced between 21 and 10 days prior to its commencement, 50% of the registration fee will remain due. If the withdrawal is announced less than 10 days before its commencement, the entire registration fee will be due.

Conditions of admission

This course is open to anyone holding a university degree or with professional experience judged to be equivalent. See the Regulations of the CAS in Public Administration (in French).

Registration deadline

To be confirmed

I want to register

The autumn 2023 session is closed.

The next session will take place in 2025.

Registration fees

Total course registration fees come to CHF 4,500 (including all documentation), which should be paid on receipt of the invoice, and by the start of the course at the latest.

Discout
A discount of 5%, up to a maximum of CHF 500 per course, is available to any IDHEAP alumni—holding an MPA, DAS or CEMAP, an IDHEAP PhD or a Master’s in PMP—who wish to follow a CAS course or a Seminar for Specialist and Executives organised by IDHEAP. This reduction does not apply to participants in the DAS who subsequently wish to follow the MPA course.

Withdrawal

Any decision to withdraw from the course must be made in writing.

If withdrawal from the course is announced between

21 and ten days prior to its commencement, 50% of the registration fee will remain due.
less than ten days before its commencement, the entire registration fee is due. The number of places being limited, registrations will be considered on the basis of the date of receipt.

Environmental and ecological transition policies | PETE

The topic

Objectives

Target audience

Information

Course Manager

Dates, time and place

Main teaching language

Registration fees

Conditions of admission

Registration deadline

I want to register

Registration fees