COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA 292T-12

This course is cross- listed with the Full-Time MBA Program.

COURSE TITLE: Business and Natural Resources - Sustainable Use of Ecosystems

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 Unit

INSTRUCTOR: Omar Romero-Hernandez (HAAS) and Federico Castillo (CNR)

E-MAIL ADDRESS: oromero@haas.berkeley.edu and f.castillo@berkeley.edu,

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: http://bspace.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Sundays 10/19 & 11/2, 9:00AM-5:00PM

Please note the unorthodox format of this course, which meets all day on two Sundays (10/19 & 11/12). You must attend both sessions in their entirety in order to earn a passing grade.

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: A mixture of lectures, cases, and leading guest speakers

REQUIRED READINGS: Course materials distributed on bSpace

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Case briefs, class participation, and final project.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

This course represents a strong academic collaboration between the Haas School of Business and the College of Natural Resources to provide and apply leading frameworks for corporate ecosystem services, valuation of natural resources and balancing business risk and opportunities. Businesses are operating in an increasingly resource-constrained world. From water shortages to climate change impacts and energy crises, business managers will have to understand not only the immediate risks from these trends but also the strengthening regulations that will inevitably result. Few companies have got it right while others are lagging behind and wasting business value. Those that respond too late will be at a serious disadvantage. There are clear opportunities to improve the bottom line by considering natural resource issues on a daily basis – methodologies, frameworks, cases, have already been prepared to provide you quick and strong guidance on the best way to impact your business through valuing ecosystem services. Companies that understand these imperatives will be able to better navigate an increasingly complex world and the major environmental risks it faces. Whether you have experience in a bank, IT or Consumer Products, this course is expected to be a differentiator.

The course incorporates business and sustainability aspects into the field of natural resource management. Using economic and ecological concepts students are expected to learn tools, and use them to solve practical natural resource management problems relevant to business and society at large. The course concentrates in four thematic fields: Ecosystem Services, Economic Valuation, Climate Change and Water. In particular, we will relate these topics to a business context. Students are expected to complete assignments distributed in class and based on real and relevant natural resource management problems. Leading guest speakers are also expected for the course.

Taking this course will help students to support their decision making process related to the use and conservation of natural resource and the inextricable link to competitive advantage.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Omar Romero-Hernandez, PhD., Faculty and Research Director at the Sustainable Products and Solutions Program, CRB, Haas School of Business.

He has led various internationally awarded projects in the field of renewable energy, sustainable business strategies and business processes – sponsors include the United Nations, Ministry of the Environment, Industry consortiums, the Stock Exchange and NGOs. In 2010 he was appointed national leader of Mexico’s Business Summit task force on Economic Growth and Low Carbon Emissions, which delivers recommendations to the President. Prof. Romero-Hernandez was the recipient of the 2010 Franz Edelman Award, the world’s most prestigious award on Operations Research and Management Science.

Former Director of the Center for Technological Development (CDT) at the Autonomous Technology Institute of Mexico (ITAM).  Omar is a Chemical Engineer with graduate studies in Economic Policy and Government and a PhD in Process Economics and Environmental Impact from Imperial College, London, UK.

Omar has worked for a diverse range of public and private organizations such as Procter & Gamble, PEMEX (Oil & Gas), Accenture, and the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources. In 2001, he was appointed as Professor at ITAM, UC Berkeley Fulbright Professor in Haas (2009) and Energy Biosciences Institute Researcher in 2010.  Currently, he is a National Researcher, and author of three books: Renewable Energy Technologies and Policies, Industry and the Environment and Introduction to Engineering – An Industry perspective and several international publications on engineering, business and sustainable development.

Federico Castillo, PhD., Researcher and Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.

Federico Castillo is an Environmental Economist with a PhD and undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.  Federico’s research is centered on technology transfer and innovation, economic valuation, the socio economic impacts of climate change as well as the economic aspects of protected areas. He is a member of a multidisciplinary team that is developing a research agenda on climate change, agriculture and population issues in the Berkeley Campus. Federico has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, The Tropical Agricultural Research Center, WWF, The Nature Conservancy and other international organizations on a wide range of topics from economic valuation of natural resources to the economic analysis of protected areas.  Federico is responsible for teaching an undergraduate class in economic aspects of natural resource management in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management.