The goal is to understand the economic value of the water, especially in both water excess and scarcity conditions. This course will also deal with the possible entrepreneurship solutions or actions that could be created by using water as a common good.  Overall putting a true monetary value to water will also help make these resources sustainable. In addition, it teaches a wide gamma of topics related to Water Law such as International and European legislation, interstate agreements on water management and control, relationships and hierarchy of rules and regulations etc. and Water Policy such as Water Framework Directive in Europe, social tariffs in high-income countries etc.

• Understanding of the economic theory of resource allocation, recognizing the peculiarities imposed by water
• Comprehension of the interaction of economics and policy
• Understanding of international and European and national water laws with an emphasis on the Water Framework and Flood Directives
• Cost-benefit analysis, the roles of water marketing and water pricing, demand and supply estimation, privatization, and modelling with demand and supply functions
• How proper water pricing can lead to its sustainability

On completion of this module, students are expected to be able to:

• Build a practical platform and performing economic analysis using both theoretical and empirical tools on water resources sustainability
• Techniques for determining the legal implications and the environmental, economic, and social impact of a management plan

6 credits

1. J.F. Bruins (Editor), M.T. Heberling (Editors). Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment: Applications to Watershed Management. CRC Press; 1 edition pp. 472 (2004).
2. C. Griffin. Water Resource Economics: The Analysis of Scarcity, Policies, and Projects. The MIT Press pp. 432 (2005).
3. Louka. Water Law and Policy Governance Without Frontiers. Oxford University Press pp. 462 (2008).