Learning objectives
Competences to be developed and expected outcomes
a) Knowledge and understanding : at the end of the course the student will have a thorough understanding of the EU institutions and the way they work, of economic policies of the European Union, of the problems related to the development of the territory, of the regional policies of the European Union,of the regional database of Eurostat. The student will acquire the capacity to understand the main issues of the present debate on the European development and cohesion policies
b) Applying knowledge and understanding: the student at the end of the course will be able to design a research project on the topic of regional development; to collect, process and interpret regional statistics; to make comparisons between different regions; to suggest projects of local development; to write reports and to present the results of his own work
c) Making judgments: the student will be able to understand critically the issues related to the institutional functioning of the European Union and in particular the policies of the European Union in the field of economic development and social and territorial cohesion.
d) Communication skills: the student will improve his written communication skills through the reports and the oral communication skills through the public presentations.
e) Learning skills: the student will be able to manage databases, to produce and elaborate statistics, set up tables and graphs, using statistical software for the drafting of economic reports on local economies.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of economics both micro and macro. Basic knowledge of statistics. Familiarity with Excel. There are important intersections with the courses in European economy, Development economics and Cooperation and competition among firms.
Course unit content
The content of the course is different for students who participate to the Project Work (attending students) and students who do not participate to the Project Work (non attending students)
For attending students the program is as follows:
- Guide to the use of the Eurostat Regio Data Bank for the study of the regional economies
- The economic and statistical analysis of regional economies
- Economic and social disequilibria in the European Union
- The theories of spatial agglomeration of economic activity
- The cohesion policy of the European Union
- The policies of local economic development
- The cycle of a local economic development project
- The design of a local development project
- Institutions of the European Union
For non attending students the program is as follows:
History of the European Union
Institutions of the European Union
Policies of the European Union
Full programme
Cohesion policies have been implemented in the European Union since 1988 to reduce the huge economic and social disparities at regional level. These policies have acquired importance over time to become the most important item in the European Union budget. The aim of the course is twofold. The first aim is to illustrate the rationale of these policies, the way in which these policies have been implemented, the projects realized, the results achieved, the problems left unsolved. This will be done through the analysis of the theories of agglomeration, of the official EU, national and regional planning documents, the main assessments of the evaluation units and some “best practice” projects.
The second aim of the course is to train students in the design of development projects at local level. Each student, under the supervision of the teacher, will be required to carry out an economic and social analysis of an identified area, to outline a local strategy of development for that area and to suggest few key projects. The content of the course in detail is as follows:
- Institutions and policies of the European Union
- Economic and social disequilibria in the European Union
- Cohesion policy of the European Union
- Local economic development policies
- Cycle of a local development policy
- Design of a local development project
Bibliography
ATTENDING STUDENTS: didactic material will be delivered all along the course and made available in the website (EllY).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS
1) Michelle Cini, Nieves Perez-Solorzano Borragan, European Union Politics, Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press, 2019, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
This book is available in the Department library
Teaching methods
The Course is based on a project of innovative didactic which includes teamwork and public presentations supported by theoretical lectures.
Team work and public presentations will take place either on line or in presence according to the development of the Covid pandemic. Some lectures will be delivered in streaming. Other lectures will be recorded. It is possible that some lectures will be held in person depending on the progress of the pandemic and the rules dictated by the university. Students participating at the project work will be required to keep a Lesson Diary to send periodically to the teacher.
Students who cannot partecipate to the Project Work and follow lectures on line, will prepare themselves on a Text Book on European Union selected among the most widespread internationally.
Assessment methods and criteria
The final assessment will be different for attending and non attending students. Attending students are those who follow the project work. For them attendance is compulsory.
For attending students, the final mark will be the outcome of:
a) an evaluation of the written report on the regional economy and on its public presentation
b) an evaluation of the draft of the project of local development and of its public presentation
c) an evaluation of the Lesson Diary of each student.
While the first two assessments will be group assessments, the student diary assessment will be an individual assessment.
Knowledge and understanding will be evaluated in the Lesson diary and in the design of the report and of the project of local development.
Capacity of applying knowledge and of making autonomous judgments will be evaluated in the written report on the regional economy and on the design of a local development project
Oral communication skills will be evaluated in the presentation of the report and in the presentation of the local development project . Written communication skills will be evaluated in the written regional report and in the Lesson Diary
For non attending students there will be either an oral or a written exam depending on the developments of the Covid pandemic.
The answer to these questions will assess knowledge and understanding of the issues addressed, the ability to make independent judgements and written communication skills. The exam will focus on a) history of the European Union; b) institutions of the European Union; policies of the European Union. These topics are covered in an exhaustive way in the Text Book.
Other information
In the present situation of uncertainty due to the Covid pandemic, it is possible that the content of the course and the way in which lectures are delivered change in the progress of the Course. It is important then that students and teacher interact continuously through the Elly Forum
In considerazione del clima di incertezza creato dal protrarsi dell'epidemia Covid, è possibile che contenuti del corso, modalità didattiche e modalità di esame subiscano variazioni. E' importante per questo che studenti e docenti si tengano in contatto costante attraverso il Forum di Elly.
