VALUING NATURAL CAPITAL AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: GIOVANNI SIGNORELLOExpected Learning Outcomes
The student will know theoretical concepts and methods for assigning to natural capital and ecosystems services economic values that can be used in Beneft Cost Analysys of investments in nature conservation and restoration, and in Natural Resource Damage Assessment court cases.
Course Structure
Teaching includes 21 hours of frontal participatory and cooperative lectures, and 42 hours of various typologies of exercises, including practical exercise, team works, examination f relevant study cases, field visits, individual researchs and presentations, seminars.
As a guarantee of equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures, based on their specific needs and on teaching objectives of the discipline. It is also possible to ask the departmental contacts of CInAP (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and/or DSAs)
Required Prerequisites
Detailed Course Content
Content of frontal lectures:
The natural capital as asset. Ecosystem services. Classification of ecosystem services. Goals of economic valuation. Principles of welfare economics. The Total Economic Value paradigm. General overview of economic valuation methods. Valuation methods based on revealed preferences. Travel cost method (single sites and multiple sites approaches). Hedonic price method. Defensive behavior. Damage cost method. Valuation methods based on stated preferences. Contingent valuation. Choice Experiments. Secondary methods: Benefit Transfer. The environmental damage estimates in the European courts. Equivalence Analysis.
Exercises deal with the topics of frontal lectures.
Contribution of course to the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
GOAL 14: LIFE UNDER WATER
14.2 By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by enhancing their resilience and taking action for their restoration, in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
14.7 By 2030, increase the economic benefits of sustainable use of marine resources for small island states and least developed countries, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
GOAL 15: LIFE ON LAND
15.1 By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
15.2 By 2020, promote implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, promote restoration of degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded lands and soils, including lands affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a world without land degradation
15.4 By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to improve their ability to provide services that are essential for sustainable development
15.5 Take urgent and significant measures to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt biodiversity loss and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.6 Promote the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and promote adequate access to these resources, as agreed internationally
15.9 By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
15.a Mobilise and substantially increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems
Modalities:
- frontal lecture
- dedicated seminar
- workshop
- study visit
- study materials
Textbook Information
- Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016
- Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press
- Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2025
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The natural capital as asset. | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |
| 2 | Ecosystem services | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |
| 3 | Classification of ecosystem services | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |
| 4 | Goals of economic valuation. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 |
| 5 | Principles of welfare economics | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 6 | The Total Economic Value paradigm. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 7 | General overview of economic valuation methods. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 8 | Travel cost method (single sites and multiple sites approaches). | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 9 | Hedonic price method. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 10 | Defensive behavior. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 11 | Damage cost method. | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 12 | Contingent valuation | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, 2023 |
| 13 | Choice Experiments | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Ca |
| 14 | Benefit Transfer approach | Boyle K.J., Brown T.C., Champ P.A. (eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation, 2nd edition, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2016 Freeman A. M. III, Herriges J. A., and Kling C., The Measurement of Environmental and Resource Values, 3rd ed., RFF Press, |
| 15 | Environmental damage estimates in the European courts. | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |
| 16 | Equivalence Analysis. | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |
| 17 | Examination of selected valuation case-studies | Signorello G. (ed.), Valuing Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Supplementary Material and Readings, Università di Catania, 2023 |