Environmental Management

Instructor: L. Venkatachalam, Ph.D

E-mail: venkatmids@gmail.com
 Objectives of the Course

The specific objectives of this course are to acquaint the students

with various environmental issues using an interdisciplinary
approach, and to enable the students, who are on the threshold of
becoming active participants in society as citizens, decision-makers
and leaders, to develop a framework to analyze the environmental
issues and to find out appropriate policy measures.
 Course Outline
Module A (Sessions 1 & 2)
• Introduction to Environmental Management – Sustainable
Development

– A critique of sustainable development (SD) –concept of SD,

different forms of capital, role of natural capital in achieving
SD,

– Local, regional & trans-boundary water issues and how these

issues affect SD in India
Module B (Sessions 3 to 9)
1.Scope of market mechanism in environmental management
2.Collective action & property rights for sustainable development

• Scope of market mechanism in environmental management

– Complete property rights

– Institutions and transaction costs (government, markets and

NGOs such as, legal system)
Module B (Sessions 3 to 9)
1.Scope of market mechanism in environmental management
2.Collective action & property rights for sustainable development
• Collective action & property rights for sustainable
development
– Various types of property regimes – private, state, common &
open access
– Collective action and social capital
– Elinor Ostrom’s work on commons
– Common property, local livelihoods & land acquisition
Module B (Sessions 3 to 9)
• Market failures and environmental problems, and
internalization of environmental externalities
– Reasons for market failures
• Public goods, externalities
– Correcting market failures
• Command and control
• Market-based instruments
– Climate change: Kyoto Protocol
• Role of judiciary
– A case study of coffee sector in the context of relationship
between international trade & environment
 Module C (Sessions 10 to 16)
Environmental issues and policy measures

• Session 10: Case study on local environmental governance

– Institutions, Property Rights, Policy failures, Sustainable

Development vs. Equity, Social Capital, Challenges in
implementing grass roots interventions

• Sessions 11–16: Presentation & discussion of term papers and

book reviews
Evaluation
• Class Participation – 10%

• Mid-term – 20%

• Final Examination – 40%

• Answer – No more than the suggested page limit in the

question paper

• Term Paper – 30%

Term paper presentation
 A group of five/ six students

 Analyze local / regional / national / international environmental

issues (remedial policies/interventions) & opportunities (i.e., new
business opportunities)

 Evaluation on the basis of application of theoretical concepts/

analytical frameworks discussed in Session 1 to Session 10.
Evaluation of term paper
• Presentation and discussion
– 35 minutes for each group

• 15 to 20 minutes for presentation

• 15 minutes for discussion

– Presentation by ALL the students in a group, and participation

by ALL the students in the class

(Post mid-term, March 9th onwards)

Evaluation of term paper
• Presentation – 15 marks
– Individual effort – 10 marks
– Overall group presentation – 5 marks
• Report – 15 marks
– ORIGINAL PIECE OF WORK
• Write the source of literature referred to as
footnotes/endnotes
– Report size – Maximum 2,500 words
• Structure the report into sections
Evaluation of term paper
References
– Kumar, I., Guri, S., Ladia, M., Richa, & Verma, A. (2013) (PGP16 Students)
Live project on coastal management of Kozhikode. The Winner of
WIPRO Earthian Award 2013. (Note based on Environmental
Management Term Paper).
– Sahasranamam, S., Dasgupta, S., Asati, A., Singh, R., & Debnath, A.
(PGP16 Students) (2013) Powering villages with renewable energy co-
ops. Business Line November 25, 2013. (An article based on Term Paper)
(PPTs of presentation available in the Black Board)
– PPTs of two groups from PGP16