Environmental Politics

A.Y. 2024/2025
9
Max ECTS
60
Overall hours
SSD
M-GGR/01
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The teaching aims to provide the basic conceptual tools necessary to frame environmental policies in a geographical perspective. Environmental issues will be critically discussed, with particular reference to the topics of climate change, air pollution and biodiversity protection.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will know the milestones of the development of environmental policies. They will also be able to reflect critically on the main theoretical-methodological issues of the discipline.
At the end of the course students will be able to use the acquired knowledge to understand the debate on environmental policies from a geographical perspective, and will therefore be able to adopt appropriate methodologies for the critical analysis of concrete cases of application of environmental policies. Finally, they will be able to interpret these processes with an appropriate geographical approach and will be able to report on them using an appropriate disciplinary vocabulary.
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

Single session

Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
The lectures will take place in presence.
In case of specific emergencies, a blended mode will be activated, with simultaneous streaming (Teams).
Students will find all the information to access the lessons (links etc.), any changes in the program or in the reference material (bibliography etc.) on the Ariel teaching site.
If it is not possible to take the exam in presence, the exam will be held in telematic form in ways that will be communicated on the Ariel teaching site at the end of the course.
Course syllabus
During the first part, the course will focus on the definition of the key concepts of the discipline (environment, territory, sustainable development).
In the second part, the lessons will present the main global environmental issues along with the policies developed to tackle them, with specific reference to some sectors (climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation).
In this phase the course will focus on the different policy instruments (regulatory, economic and voluntary), on the actors involved in the definition of environmental policies and on the main issues related to their implementation.
The last part of the course introduces the theme of political ecology on an international scale. The theme will be analyzed along three lines: the development of the society-nature relationship; the environmental dimension of the North-South inequalities; the link between poverty and environmental degradation.
Prerequisites for admission
The course is aimed at students enrolled in the third year of Human Sciences of the Environment, Territory and Landscape (enrolled from 2017/2018) and students of Human Sciences of the Environment, Territory and Landscape (old system).
Knowledge of the basic concepts of human geography is required.
Teaching methods
The course aims to combine theoretical analysis with practical examples of contemporary problems and environmental policies. To this end, during the lectures various tools will be used (presentations, satellite images, maps, short videos, ...) that help understanding the complexity of the processes presented.
The teacher intends to stimulate the active participation of the students in order to encourage the emergence of a critical approach to the subject.
Teaching Resources
Attending students

First part
- Contents of the lectures
- Bagliani, M., Dansero, E. (2011), Politiche per l'ambiente: dalla natura al territorio, UTET.

Second part
- Contents of the lectures
- Giovannini E. (2018), L' utopia sostenibile, Laterza.

Third part (only for 9cfu exam)
- Contents of the lectures
- One book of the following:
- Bini V. (a cura di) (2020), Africa: la natura contesa. Ecologia politica a Sud del Sahara, Edizioni Ambiente. https://freebook.edizioniambiente.it/libro/133/Africa_la_natura_contesa
- Dobson A. (2016), Environmental politics. A very short introduction, Oxford University Press.
- Martinez Alier J. (2009), Ecologia dei poveri, Jaca Book.
- Raworth K. (2017), L'economia della ciambella, Edizioni Ambiente. English version available
- Geography Notebooks, Special issue "I territori dell'ecologia politica" (2020). https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Geography-Notebooks/issue/view/131/showToc
- Bagliani M., Pietta A., Bonati S. (2019), Il cambiamento climatico in prospettiva geografica, Il Mulino, Bologna.
- Albertazzi S., Bini V., Trivellini G. (in press), Forest and Communities. Deforestation, Conservation and Socio-Ecological Relations in the Mau Forest (Kenya), Milano University Press.
- Angus I., Anthropocene, Asterios, 2020 (English version available)
- Pellizzoni L. (ed), Introduzione all'ecologia politica, Il Mulino, 2023.

Non-attending students:

First part
- Bagliani, M., Dansero, E. (2011), Politiche per l'ambiente: dalla natura al territorio, UTET.

Second part
- Giovannini E. (2018), L' utopia sostenibile, Laterza.

One book of the following:
- Dobson A. (2016), Environmental politics. A very short introduction, Oxford University Press.
- Angus I., Anthropocene, Asterios, 2020 (English version available)
- Pellizzoni L. (ed), Introduzione all'ecologia politica, Il Mulino, 2023.
- Raworth K. (2017), L'economia della ciambella, Edizioni Ambiente. English version available
- Bagliani M., Pietta A., Bonati S. (2019), Il cambiamento climatico in prospettiva geografica, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Third part (only for 9cfu exam)
One book of the following:
- Bini V. (ed) (2020), Africa: la natura contesa. Ecologia politica a Sud del Sahara, Edizioni Ambiente. Il volume è scaricabile gratuitamente al sito: https://freebook.edizioniambiente.it/libro/133/Africa_la_natura_contesa
- Laurent E. (2011), Social-écologie, Flammarion.
- Martinez Alier J. (2009), Ecologia dei poveri, Jaca Book. English version available
- Geography Notebooks, Special issue "I territori dell'ecologia politica" (2020). https://www.ledonline.it/index.php/Geography-Notebooks/issue/view/131/showToc
- Albertazzi S., Bini V., Trivellini G. (in press), Forest and Communities. Deforestation, Conservation and Socio-Ecological Relations in the Mau Forest (Kenya), Milano University Press.


Students who want to take the exam for 12 CFU are requested to contact the teacher
Assessment methods and Criteria
The oral exam aims to evaluate the knowledge of the program's topics, the clarity in the presentation of complex processes and the ability to critically interpret the topics presented.
The course includes a section of class room work that, if actively done, can substitute for part of the exam program.
Unita' didattica A
M-GGR/01 - GEOGRAPHY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica B
M-GGR/01 - GEOGRAPHY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Unita' didattica C
M-GGR/01 - GEOGRAPHY - University credits: 3
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor(s)