Environmental Policies and Local Governments

Course Code:

PA 509

Course Type:

Area Elective

P:

3

Credits:

3

ECTS:

6

Course Language:

English

Courses given by:

Barış Gençer BAYKAN

Course Objectives:

After going through the course during the semester, the specific learning objectives of the course are:
- to develop the capacity of the student to identify, analyze, understand environmental problems, in their complex context,
at the level of local communities;
- students can identify, develop, adapt policy instruments and more complex solutions to environmental problems;
- students can identify the most favorable implementation scenarios;
- students have the capacity to determine, at community level, strategic objectives related to the quality of the
environment, the quality of life in general, community well-being;
- students learn values, behaviors and lifestyles required for positive societal transformation;
- students learn ‘social action’ competences and critical reflection skills in a trans-disciplinarily context

Course Content:

The lesson includes the reasons of environmental problems and the green policies, national and international policies of environmental protection, sustainable development and environment issues. Also, the role of local governments in Turkey on the evolution of the environmental policies will be analyzed.

Teaching Methods:

1: Lecture, 2: Question-Answer, 3: Discussion

Assessment Methods:

A: Testing, C: Homework

Vertical Tabs

Course Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes	Program Learning Outcomes	Teaching Methods	Assessment Methods
knowledge of and capacity to interpret general concepts and principles of environmental legislation, including EU Directives;		1,2,3	A,C
the ability to comparatively and interdisciplinary address environmental problems (policy analysis) in order to solve or alleviate them (from a public interest perspective)		1,2,3	A,C
the ability to understand, discuss or argue on issues or situations relevant for the present public debate topics, in the context of environmental policy (law, policy, politics, economic, social, technology, ecology);		1,2,3	A,C
- the capacity to apply, in the context of local communities, concepts such as sustainable development / sustainability, horizontal integration of environmental policy, impact assessment, etc.		1,2,3	A,C

Course Flow

COURSE CONTENT
Week	Topics
1	Introductory discussion to the general field of environmental protection activities – interdisciplinary approaches. Introduction of general concepts of the discipline such as governance, policy, policy instruments, with examples from the environmental field.
2	Explanation of general concepts (environment, pollution, environmental protection principles, etc.). The need to protect the environment, basic information on the main aspects of environmental degradation. Theoretical framing of environmental problems as market failures and government failures
3	Environmental public policy. Policy instruments (1). Classification, evolution of policy instruments, pros and cons for each category.
4	Policy instruments (2). Market-based instruments as an alternative to address environmental problems. Voluntary instruments.
5	Environmental governance – a framework concept for addressing environmental matters.
6	Sustainable development, methodologies for assessing and implementing sustainability. Well-being, quality of life, Social Development Index, other sustainability indexes that include environmental considerations.
7	Environmental responsibility of corporations (a form of CSR). How can public authorities facilitate community involvement of the private sector in environmental matters? Sustainable development, facilitating private sector sustainability.
8	Sustainable consumption. Environmental problems as behavioral problems. The limits of science for the solution of environmental problems. Different lifestyles, consumption patterns and their impact on the environment. Ecological footprints. From ethics to policy / law.
9	Between market and justice: the socio-ecological challenge. Environment as a political problem. Conflict between economic growth and environmental protection.
10	Environmental justice (distributional equity). Environmental ethics: Human values, needs and wants.
11	Public participation in environmental policy. Formal and non-formal provisions for public participation. Public participation at different stages of the policy process. Aarhus Convention.
12	Limits of environmental policy in societal context. Unsustainability as manifestation of environmental policy. The politics of unsustainability.
13	Review of the course. Retrospective discussion on environmental protection activities and their relevance in the context of the public sector and community
14	Final Exam

Recommended Sources

RECOMMENDED SOURCES

Textbook

- Minea, Elena and Suciu, Raluca, Environmental Policy, Tritonic, Bucuresti, 2013.

- Barry, John, The Politics of Actually Existing Unsustainability. Human Flourishing in a Climate-Changed, Carbon Constrained World, Oxford University Press, 2012.

- - Park, Jacob, Conca, Ken and Finger, Mathias, The Crisis of Global Environmental Governance. Towards a New Political Economy of Sustainability, Routledge, 2008.

Additional Resources

- Dauvergne, Peter, The Shadows of Consumption. Consequences for the Global Environment, The MIT Press, 2008.

- Zehner, Ozzie, Green Illusions. The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism, University of Nebraska Press, 2012.

- Johnstone, Nick (ed.), Environmental Policy and Corporate Behaviour, OECD, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2007. - Cohen, Steven, Understanding Environmental Policy, Columbia University Press, New York, 2006.

Assessment

ASSESSMENT
IN-TERM STUDIES	NUMBER	PERCENTAGE
Mid-terms	1	40
Quizzes	-	-
Assignment	8	-
Total	-	40
CONTRIBUTION OF FINAL EXAMINATION TO OVERALL GRADE	-	60
CONTRIBUTION OF IN-TERM STUDIES TO OVERALL GRADE	-	40
Total	-	100

Course’s Contribution to Program

COURSE'S CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM
No	Program Learning Outcomes	Contribution
No	Program Learning Outcomes	1	2	3	4	5
1	To increase capacity of professional expertise in the field of Local Authorities and Governance within the discipline of Public Administration
2	To comprehend interaction of interdisciplinary phenomena in the field of Local Authorities and Governance within the discipline of Public Administration
3	To have ability and knowledge for using models and approaches in the field of Local Authorities and Governance within the discipline of Public Administration while designing academic projects and presentations.
4	To analyze differences and similarities of local government systems, in particular within the EU, with inter-disciplinary approach.
5	To gain ability for conducting a qualitative and/or quantitative research while complying with the code of ethic in academia.
6	To discuss and make presentation on a study, requiring expertise in the discipline of Local Governments and Governance depending on the field of Public Administration in an intellectual framework and to express oneself professionally and academically
7	To evaluate basic research models, approaches and intellectual traditions used in the discipline of Local Governments and Governance depending on the field of Public Administration with a critical approach.
8	To Apply academic writing and presentation methods at the level of project, thesis and article writing
9	To have writing, speaking and reading skills at advanced English level.
10	To implement Local Authorities and Governance with the discipline of Public Administration for producing solutions by using technological tools such as computers or other traditional methods.
11	To have the experience and social qualities which is necessary for to be employed in the public or private sector or to be admitted to an advanced university doctoral program with specialized research activities.
12	To develop empathy against other communities outside of the self-developed circle. Thus, to be able to adapt to teamwork in both local and global environments.
13	To be able to develop the views on international and domestic issues and to have competence to events, with in exchange of academic information along with international academicians and students.

ECTS

ECTS ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD BY THE COURSE DESCRIPTION
Activities	Quantity	Duration (Hour)	Total Workload (Hour)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	14	3	42
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	10	4	40
Mid-terms	1	10	10
Quizes	-	-	-
Homework	4	8	32
Final examination	1	26	26
Total Work Load	-	-	150
Total Work Load / 25 (h)	-	-	6
ECTS Credit of the Course	-	-	6

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