BIP - Ecological Economics: Theory and Practice for a Just and Sustainable Transition in Europe and Beyond

Course description

This Blended Intensive Programme on Ecological Economics proposes an ambitious educational and research pathway designed to meet the urgency and complexity of contemporary ecological and socio-economic challenges. In an era defined by interlinked crises—climate change, inequality, biodiversity loss, and institutional fragility—there is an increasing need for academic programmes capable of training a new generation of critical thinkers and engaged professionals. This initiative responds to that need by combining theoretical grounding, methodological experimentation, and participatory learning in an international and interdisciplinary setting.

The project draws on the principles of ecological economics to rethink the foundations of economic reasoning and to explore viable alternatives for a just transition. It does so by placing students at the intersection of knowledge production and policy engagement, offering an experience that is both intellectually rigorous and socially relevant. From the outset, the programme encourages participants to go beyond disciplinary boundaries, fostering a culture of cooperation across fields, institutions, and geographies. The integration of master's and PhD students in shared activities promotes mutual learning and strengthens academic collaboration at an early stage of their careers.

A distinctive feature of the programme is its ability to connect theoretical knowledge with real-world dynamics. Through a direct engagement with the climate negotiation processes taking place at the 2025 UNFCCC COP 30, students are invited to experience first-hand the tensions, discourses, and power relations that define the global governance of climate change.Alongside this experiential dimension, the programme introduces a set of online lectures that deepen the students’ familiarity with key concepts in ecological economics. Particular attention is devoted to the plurality of perspectives emerging from the Global South and to the development of tools for visualizing and interpreting climate-related data.

The final phase of the programme is designed to consolidate the learning journey through an in-person workshop in Florence, held in early 2026, which provides a space for collective reflection and creative engagement. The format of the workshop—rooted in interaction and experimentation—emphasizes the importance of urban sustainability, storytelling, the role of arts and the political dimensions to intervene towards a social and environmental just transition.

At its core, this programme is a laboratory of ideas and practices, a space where ecological economics becomes not only a theoretical framework but also a pedagogical and political project. It is animated by the conviction that knowledge must be situated, dialogic, and transformative. The blending of online and offline activities, of technical skills and narrative methods, of academic production and political imagination, creates an educational experience that is rare in today’s higher education landscape.

The initiative also responds to a broader institutional challenge: how to reconfigure university curricula in ways that are attuned to planetary boundaries, historical injustices, and the aspirations of future generations. beyond technical competence, what this initiative aims to cultivate is a sense of agency—an awareness that knowledge carries responsibilities, and that the transformation of our societies depends as much on our intellectual clarity as on our collective imagination.