2024 Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Transdisciplinary Science and Engineering Graduate major in Global Engineering for Development, Environment and Society
Environmental Policy
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Global Engineering for Development, Environment and Society
- Instructor(s)
- Takehiko Murayama / Shigeo Nishikizawa
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Tue
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- GEG.S401
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2024
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 14, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Environmental issues cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. For resolving such kinds of issues, it is required to implement legislative regulations, economic incentives as well as planning approaches which reflect the relationships among various stakeholders as a social system, and to repeat evaluation and implementation of specific measures. This course covers 1) the current situation and the causes and basic direction for the resolution of environmental issues from various viewpoints, 2) policy approaches with specific examples.
Course description and aims
Students will be able to:
1) explain the targets and principles of environmental policies
2) explain specific methods such as legislative regulations, economic incentives, informative approaches as well as consensus building
3) evaluate ways of implementing environmental policies in specific cases.
Keywords
Environmental issues, regulation, economic approach, information, planning, participation, consensus building
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The course basically provides lectures.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | History of environmental issues and related policies as well as target for environmental policies | Acquire knowledge of past history as well as the structure of this class. Acquire knowledge on the basis and methods of setting policy targets. |
| Class 2 | Principle of environmental policy: Polluters Pay Principle, Extended Producers Responsibility, Prevention, Precaution | Acquire knowledge on various policy principles. |
| Class 3 | Implementation method of environmental policy (1): Regulatory approach | Collect cases on regulatory approaches. |
| Class 4 | Implementation method of environmental policy (2): Economic approach | Collect cases on economic approaches. |
| Class 5 | Implementation method of environmental policy (3): Informative approach | Collect cases on informative approaches. |
| Class 6 | Implementation method of environmental policy (4): Public participation and consensus building | Collect cases on approaches related to public participation and consensus building. |
| Class 7 | Case of environmental policy: Energy transition | Acquire knowledge on the structure of environmental policies of energy transition. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None required.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Hidefumi Furasaka "Theory on environmental policy" (Shinzansya) (in Japanese)
Vig and Kraft (2015): Environmental Policy: New Direction for the Twenty-First Century (9th ed.), CQ Press
Evaluation methods and criteria
Evaluate understanding of the targets and principles of environmental policies as well as specific methods (exercises in the class 70%, final report30%).
Related courses
- TSE.C204 ： System Design & Impact Assessment
- GEG.E501 ： Environmental Impact Assessment
Prerequisites
None required.