F1ES 4510 - A Practical Approach to Financing Environmental Projects

The course will equip the students with the references, methods and tools to manage environmental projects and understand their policy context. The course will cover the environmental and climate legislations of the European Union (like the EU Green Deal and its latest evolution) and the sustainable development goals at the international level. Methods for the economic assessment of projects will be reviewed, with risk analysis, quantification of risks, sensitivity analysis and other similar methods. The core of the course will allow the students to understand the policy aspects and to manage the sources of financing (in all aspects, like modalities, types of projects covered, etc.) available, focusing on those of the EU institutions, but also UN sources, and the World Bank. Practical projects (e.g. in the categories of renewable energy, energy access, protected areas, sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry) will be explored.

Learning Outcomes:

• understanding of the EU energy, climate and environmental policies,
• knowledge of the main financing sources for environmental projects,
• understanding of the main assessment techniques for project management.

Professional Skills:

• Ability to design, manage and assess environmental projects,
• Ability to prospect for and acquire financing for environmental projects.

The format will be mostly lectures based on PowerPoint presentations on which the students should take notes of the lecturer’s explanations and comments. Interactivity will be maximized, and prepared for video delivery if need be.

Feedback will be provided to the students on an individual basis with comments and notes on the midterm test and final test.

• Participation assessment of 10% on a continuous basis;
• Mid-term assessment of 30%, half-way through the course, in principle a short policy brief or open questions, individual, written in class in 1 hour if the epidemic circumstances allow, or at home
• Final assessment of 60%, end of the course, in principle a longer paper, of the order of 3000 words, done at home

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 28 hours a semester
• Other: independent work: 50 hours a semester