GOVERNANCE AND VALORIZATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Stampa
Enrollment year
2019/2020
Academic year
2021/2022
Regulations
DM270
Academic discipline
GEO/09 (MINERAL GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES AND MINERALOGIC AND PETROGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL HERITAGE)
Department
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT
Course
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, CONTROL AND CORPORATE FINANCE
Curriculum
PERCORSO COMUNE
Year of study
Period
1st semester (20/09/2021 - 22/12/2021)
ECTS
6
Lesson hours
44 lesson hours
Language
ITALIAN
Activity type
WRITTEN TEST
Teacher
RICCARDI MARIA PIA (titolare) - 6 ECTS
Prerequisites
The course has a highly interdisciplinary character and links with other scientific and commodity teachings. It is carried out in such a way that it can be followed with profit by the students without any preliminary preparation. An open approach is required, in particular towards scientific and technical aspects concerning the relationship between natural resources, production cycles and the environment, sustainability (Ob. 6, 8, 9, 11,12).
Learning outcomes
The course aims to provide students with basic knowledge about the type and distribution of renewable and non-renewable natural resources as products of planet Earth's activity, their abundance and exploitation. Consequence of the use of resources is the impact on the environment and society, treated from a technological and sustainability point of view (Ob. 6, 9).
The course aims to provide the student with basic knowledge of economic geology: main industrial mineral deposits and information on the processes of cultivation and enrichment, supply of mineral raw materials, economic and technical constraints on the evaluation of resources and mineral reserves, the issues of sustainability of the production cycle of raw materials.
The student will be able to understand the dynamics underlying the research and exploitation of natural resources, to evaluate independently the commercial characteristics of raw materials, in particular industrial minerals, and waste. He will also be able to acquire and understand, in an autonomous way, information and data related to the main economic trends and to interact with different specialists in the field of exploitation of natural resources and waste, with a transdisciplinary approach.
Course contents
The course is organized in several modules. The first focuses on natural resources and in particular the geo-resources, their definition and possible classifications, the processes of natural and industrial formation and enrichment, hints of economic geology.
The second focuses on the relationship between the use of resources and production cycles, with regard to the balance between resources, production waste, products and their uses. Some production cycles are treated as examples, highlighting the complexities, the scales of observation and study, the positive and negative interferences with the environment, with the economy, with society (Ob. 6, 9, 12, Agenda 2030).
The third module provides an interdisciplinary overview of the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability management within the company. Following the Triple Bottom Line model (3P: Planet, Profit and People) and the Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach, environmental, and socio-economic sustainability analysis methodologies will be introduced, considering products at all stages of the life cycle (raw material extraction, production, use, distribution and end of life). Finally, the role of digital technologies in the transformation of production models from linear to circular (Ob. 6, 8, 9, 12, Agenda 2030) will be deepened.
The program includes seminars as a deepening of some of the topics dealt during the course.
Teaching methods
The course is organized in classroom-taught, supplemented by seminars held by external speakers with specific expertise on the subject.
Reccomended or required readings
• Giancarlo Santoprete (2003) Ambiente e Risorse Naturali. Attività antropiche e inquinamento. Edizioni ETS, pp. 332. ISBN88-467-0696-X

• Stephen E. Kesler and Adam C. Simon (2015). Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment. Cambridge University Press, pp. 434. ISBN 978-1-107-07491-0

• Giorgio Nebbia (2017). Ecologia ed Economia. Andrea Pacilli Editore, pp. 130. ISBN 978-88-9376-013-3

Teaching material is in addition to the recommended texts.
Assessment methods
Knowledge will be assessed by a final exam, in written form. The test aims to determine the knowledge acquired on the main contents of the course and consists of open questions and multiple-choice questions.
Further information
The teaching materials used during the course is available on the digital teaching platform Kiro
Sustainable development goals - Agenda 2030