Over two and a half centuries, the model of economic development based on wide-spread industrialization has given rise to both unprecedented prosperity and global ecological threats. Climate change, environmental pollution, biodiversity loss and ubiquitous waste accumulation are severely undermining the material conditions on which continued progress relies. Conventional industrial policy has been a major ingredient of human development as much as it has contributed to environmental risks through unsustainable resource consumption and linear production models.

It is abundantly clear today that a new model of economic development is urgently needed – one that can deliver prosperity, withstand economic shocks and sustain a healthy environment within the contours of a finite planet. Green industrial policy can be part of the answer by addressing market failures and advancing structural change in those components of the economy that account for a large share of resource use and waste production on the one hand, and infrastructure, technological development and employment on the other.

Against this background, the course sets out to provide trainers, educators and policymakers with a scientifically sound foundation, didactic instruments and learning material to gain a thorough understanding of the main tenets of green industrial policy and their application around the world.