MGAP - Master of Environmental Management

This course approaches biodiversity concepts and processes with an ecosystem focus, looking at the principles of the biology of conservation. Initially we will explore the ideas of the biology and ecology of conservation, covering everything from natural and current threats to biodiversity all the way to in situ conservation instruments. In this course the students will understand the basic concepts of the biology and ecology of conservation, such as: extinction, habitats and connectivity, threats, and the integrity and stability of ecosystems. The course will take an in-depth look at the biological tools for conservation, including adaptable management of protected land and marine areas and indicators that measure management efficiency.

There is a close relationship between the information found in the financial statements of an organization and its operational performance or economic viability. However, each sector or type of organization has special accounting information which reflects the way it operates. For proper financial analysis it is necessary then to know the particularities and the language of what that information describes. This course brings its participants closer to a detailed understanding of the operation of an organization through the interpretation and projection of its financial information. Special emphasis is made on the implications strategic decisions have on an organization’s finances.

This course provides basic knowledge of the concepts and the methodology used in economics to analyze environmental problems and natural resources. The course will emphasize the economic tools and instruments used by environmental policy, as well as solutions based on collective management. We will also look at experimental economics as a field for study and an empirical tool for analyzing individual behavior in dilemmas that are common when there are shared resources and other environmental dilemmas. The course covers the following topics: (i) the theory of externalities and of public goods, (ii) renewable and nonrenewable resources, (iii) economic instruments: taxes, tradable permits, and conservation incentives, (iv) institutional and experimental economics, (v) valuations of environmental goods and services, (vi) development and the environment, (vii) economic policy and the environment. We will analyze both experiences in Colombia and in other countries.

This course analyzes the conceptual framework of the ecosystemic approach and its application in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In addition, it delves into certain aspects of the ecology of conservation, such as resilience and the multiple equilibrium states of an ecosystem. It provides an introduction from the ecological theory perspective, analyzing how different human activities and groups transform the environment and create distinctively entropic ecological dynamics and situations. It studies how these changes in the ecosystem have affected the wellbeing of populations and the options to handle them under different scenarios. It places emphasis on the application of the ecosystemic approach as an ecosystem management and planning tool, and applies the concepts learned on different practical cases in the Andean-Amazon region, delving into the challenges of environmental management in view of global change.

This course provides a comprehensive view of the marketing strategy, which incorporates theories and techniques from different areas of administration. It presents a framework for the design of strategies based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of consumers and the competition. The course includes a module on social marketing, which attempts to apply marketing tools on non-profit and government organizations. Participants interact and make decisions with the help of simulation software such as Markstrat. By the end of the course, students are expected to create a marketing plan.

The purpose of this course is for students to understand the main concepts of strategic formulation and competitiveness in organizations, thus developing strategic thinking and analysis. Topics include: history of strategy schools, types of strategies, industry analysis, fundamental competencies, corporate strategy, business strategy, functional strategy, international strategy, planning by scenarios, and other tools for strategic formulation. Students will also apply basic strategic concepts, such as: assignment of limited resources, planning by scenarios, strategic planning, alliances, generating value and implementing strategic thinking and organizational learning, on non-profit and government institutions.

This course connects ecological science and decision making processes in a policy formulation and evaluation perspective. It stresses principles and concepts, and is developed based on extensive participation in the case analysis of ecosystem management worldwide. More specifically, it places emphasis on the following: i) application of conservation biology on the design of areas and other conservation interventions, ii) principles of environmental management in the context of arbitrary temporary and spatial frontiers, iii) complexity, iv) dynamic processes, V) uncertainty, vi) changing and varied human values, vii) adaptive management, viii) decision making in the context of uncertainty, viii) planning by scenarios, ix) modeling changes in ecosystems, x) monitoring and evaluation. The course reviews cases in land, aquatic and marine ecosystems in diverse social and institutional contexts. Requires reading skills in English.

In this course, students acquire basic tools to analyze the environmental supply and the demands of society in a given ecosystem. These tools attempt to generate the basic competencies to harmonize social needs with those of the ecosystem and develop the proper strategies for territorial handling and management. Students will become familiar with and learn to use tools to identify conflicts in the use of a territory, basic spatial analysis (SIG), ecological footprints, formulation of scenarios and simulation models, among others.

This course delves into the concepts necessary to integrate the environmental and social variable in the "heart" of the corporate strategy of different organizations. This is how the course explores the relationship between environmental management and the comparative advantages of an organization and the circumstances under which different strategies may be more effective. It also develops the capacity to analyze an industry and the firms it consists of, in order to propose environmental management strategies in a prospective manner. Students can discuss the approaches to formulate and implement strategies for different organizations from the private, public and third sector. Similarly, students carry out work that includes the design of instruments and mechanisms to monitor and follow up on the different strategies analyzed in class.

The objective of this course is to understand how to become a sustainable society by optimizing resources. It analyzes the basic concepts of industrial ecology and how to optimize and reorganize industrial activities in order to minimize their environmental effects. Similarly, it analyzes how industrial ecology can and has been used to develop long-term strategies in the development of the industrial and technological sector. Specifically, it reviews topics applied on real cases, such as: life cycle analysis, reverse logistics, cleaner production, ecoefficiency, etc.