1. Economics and Sustainability
CALS Sustainability Symposium
13 April 2017

2. Economics & Sustainability
Economics is the study of how individuals and societies make choices about the allocation and use of scarce resources
Economic Concepts are essential to analyzing sustainability
Public goods/Common resources
Externalities
Market Failures
Economic measurements are important
How to value environmental services
How to value aggregate production

3. ISU Economics Large cohort of faculty whose research encompasses
Environmental and natural resource issues
Agricultural production
Community sustainability
Management of common resources
Basic concepts are at the heart of what we teach in most of our courses

4. Curricular Changes CALS could require everyone to take economics
We could
probably make sustainability issues more visible
Highlight sustainability applications

5. Advice for the College Two models Separate unit
Create a separate departmental identity for sustainability
Foster “embedded” sustainability effort within existing units
Separate unit
Pros: clear accountability, focused effort
Cons: resource inefficient, not well integrated
Embedded sustainability
Pros: more efficient, flexible and adaptable
Cons: requires inputs to sustain focus and encourage investment