FEEM, the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Catania (UNICT) and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) organise the Belpasso International Summer School on Environmental and Resource Economics.
The broader objective of the Belpasso International Summer School is to provide advanced training for young researchers who are also EAERE members from all over Europe and beyond on European issues of environmental and resource economics.
The main sponsor of the School is the municipality of Belpasso. The School is organised with the support of UNESCO-Venice Office.
The School is hosted in the city of in Belpasso, in the Province of Catania, Sicily, Italy and take places take place from the 4th to the 10th of September. This year, the School’s topic is "Extremes: Natural Disasters in Changing Climate".

Over the past few decades, the world witnessed a striking increase in the economic losses caused by natural disasters, driven by population and economic growth. Human-induced climate change has the potential to alter the prevalence and severity of extremes events such as heat waves, cold waves, storms, floods and droughts. Detecting, let alone predicting, these change is a difficult task that will not be accomplished until the impacts of climate change become more pronounced. Yet better understanding of the vulnerabilities to extreme events under current and future climates may help to avoid further aggravating of the adverse impacts on human health, society and the environment. Bringing the natural hazard risk prevention and climate adaptation efforts together is a first step down to road to make this happen.

The faculty is comprised of leaders in the field, and offers an overall coverage of the specialist area. In particular, the lectures will focus on:

 

  • Extreme Environmental Events
  • Macroeconomic Effects of Extreme Events
  • Economic Costs of Droughts and Floods
  • Climate Change and Global Damages from Tropical Cyclones
  • Climate Change and Agricultural Systems
  • Economic and Social Vulnerability and Resilience to Natural Disasters