The “Economics and Technologies of Sustainability” master’s degree is an interdisciplinary program addressing global challenges through a blend of economics, technology, and sustainability principles. It focuses on equipping students with skills to tackle pressing issues such as resource scarcity, energy challenges, the transition to a sustainable production, circular economies, and strategies to identify and economically valorize sustainability implementations, and the socio-political aspects of sustainability and its realization.

The program emphasizes both theoretical understanding and hands-on experience through specialized labs, with
both formats building on modern didactic concepts that aim at a student involvement at unprecedented levels.
Graduates will enter the world of work as “Sustainability Specialists” or “Tech-Economists,” professionals capable of bridging economic and technological solutions for sustainable development within private companies, public sectors, and as consultant.

Admission requires prior knowledge in economics, science, or related disciplines, ensuring students have a strong foundation in fields like basic microeconomica and macroeconomics, statistics, general biology and chemistry, and general geology.

Acquired competences

Students are offered a wide range of courses that allow them to flexibly acquire competences that will enable them to work as Sustainability Specialist in three contexts in which realising sustainability is key for a sustainable future.

Competences in ‘Economics and business-economics’:

• data analysis, including use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fields of data management;
• theoretical and practical notions of statistical modelling, statistical learning and simulations;
• game theory, auction theory, choice under uncertainty;
• business activities in the context of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transformation;
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and measurement of the social and environmental impacts;
• innovation and business strategies, sectoral models of innovation, analysis of the patent market, innovation and intellectual property rights;
• historical and modern technologies used to define, describe and measure environmental sustainability.

Competences in ‘Resources and Production’:

• distribution and quantities of renewable and non-renewable resources and exploitation strategies;
• sustainable production and resource exploitation in circular economy contexts;
• practical application of the concepts of bioprospecting and bio-inspired in sustainable production;
• adapting production and energy processes to the environmental limits of the Earth system and the availability of energy and resources.

Competences in ‘Energy’:

• technical skills regarding renewable energy, energy transformations, energy storage, batteries;
• methods, tools, devices and technologies for the use of renewable energy and sustainable energy sources;
• models and concepts regarding carbon neutrality, carbon negativity, and carbon sequestering.

Transversal competences:

• communicating sustainability depending on the training of the interlocutors;
• understanding the social aspects related to the achievement of environmental sustainability;
• identifying potential and existing legislative conflicts that may emerge from environmental sustainability implementations.

Career opportunities

The master’s course aims at a high employment rate with access to positions of higher and high responsibility. Career opportunities emerge both in the public and private sectors:

• companies and public bodies that need or want to improve their environmental impact;
• companies and bodies that work in the area of description and quantification of environmental sustainability through the development of models and methods, including digital ones;
• companies or bodies that deal with the certification of environmental sustainability;
• companies in the area of resource exploitation;
• companies in the area of production of goods and services;
• companies in the area of material recycling, both raw materials and complex materials or goods such as batteries or electronic devices;
• companies or bodies that deal with the evaluation and certification of sustainability measures in the production sector;
• companies that produce energy systems and/or devices for its storage;
• consultant to private companies or public bodies regarding the choice of a type of sustainable energy, the most suitable storage techniques, and the development energy plans;
• consultant to public bodies regarding the communication of sustainability within and across groups of interests, and regarding the realization of sustainability in city planning.

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