| Mission |
In the research programme of the Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group national and international environmental problems are analysed from an economic perspective. The research topics have academic and societal relevance; they include for example economic aspects of biodiversity, nature and landscape, waste management strategies and the use of renewable and non-renewable natural resources including sustainability and discounting issues. Most projects use some kind of quantitative method, especially optimisation models and, to an increasing extent, applied general equilibrium models. These models are used for empirical research, providing results that can be used for policy recommendations. The majority of the research takes place under the umbrella of two Graduate Schools: the Wageningen Institute for Environmental and Climate Research (WIMEK) and the Mansholt Institute; some projects receive external funding (governmental or private). The Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group is closely involved in study programmes at Wageningen University in Agricultural economics and management and Environmental sciences at MSc level. Students can specialise in environmental economics and natural resources at the Bachelors and Masters level. The staff teach environmental economics at levels ranging from undergraduate introductory courses for non-economists to highly specialised courses at PhD level. Graduate students are supervised in various thesis projects and in placements in the Netherlands and abroad. Moreover, the Environmental Economics and NaturalResources Group organizes international conferences and courses, and participates actively in various graduate schools (SENSE, NAKE) in the Netherlands. |
