Master in Environmental and Food Economics (EFE)

The Master degree in Environmental and Food Economics (EFE) is an internationally oriented high-quality program designed to provide students with both an excellent academic background and a practical attitude. The degree guarantees a promising outlook for a future professional career in today’s challenging fields of the economics of sustainability and of the management of the agri-food system.

The relationship between the environment, natural resources, and the agri-food system play a central role in the development of modern societies.

The issues of sustainable economic development, the management of natural and energy resources, and the sustainability of the agri-food system represent new economic and policy challenges.

The Master degree in Environmental and Food Economics provides the conceptual and analytical tools for participants to be able to address those challenges.

Advanced expertise in economics and business administration and management, quantitative methods, and specific theoretical and applied knowledge in environmental and natural resources economics and in the economics and management of the agri-food system are provided.

The aim is to equip students with a solid understanding of the instruments to promote: sustainable economic development, the management of natural resources (water, soil, energy), environmental and energy policies, working of the agri-food system, innovation in the agri-food sector, internationalization of agri-food companies, food safety and rural development.

The Master degree in Environmental and Food Economics, for combining the economics of environment and of agri-food, for the choice and content of its courses, and for being taught entirely in English, represents a novelty in the Italian university system.

Overview

The Master degree is comprised of teaching and other educational activities for a total of 120 ECTS and it is entirely taught in English.

The core parts initially provide a series of teachings instrumental to the disciplines involved in the course (mathematics, statistics, econometrics, law, economic history) and then its organization is balanced between common core teaching in the following areas: business (Accounting, Environmental management), economics (Microeconomics, Environmental & natural resource economics), and the environment (Agri-food economics, International agri-food markets and policy).

From the end of the first year, students are invited to choose between two curricula:

Curriculum A – Environmental and Energy Economics – aimed to provide professional training in energy and environmental economics, and focused on sustainable economic development, evaluation of environmental assets, energy markets and policies, management of natural and environmental resources, environment policies, economic impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies and mitigation policies for climate change and international climate change agreements.

Curriculum B – Economics and Management of the Agri-Food System – aimed to provide professional training in the management and administration of national and international companies in the agri-food sector, focusing on the analysis of economic and policy problems of the agri-food system. Expertise and instruments are provided to analyze and manage problems caused by economic and trade integration, to deal with internationalization issues, to assess company strategies, to study and manage national and international value chains, consumer behavior, marketing strategies, food safety problems, and rural development.