Values of Nature 2025

Assessing the multiple values of Nature is a Master-level course open to all students of the University of Geneva (MUSE, MDT, SASHA, etc.) and HEPIA. One of the important changes related to biodiversity of the last decade has been the realization that terms such as “biodiversity” and “nature” can represent different types of values to different stakeholders. In this course we will provide the information necessary to identify and describe these values, which include intrinsic values, utilitarian values (ecosystem services), and relational values.

A significant challenge for practitioners is to be able to identify which values are relevant in a given context, and how to quantify their magnitude in a way that can be integrated into public policy.  Numerous organizations and governments (including Switzerland’s) are exploring these various approaches as a way to reduce negative externalities and promote intra- and intergenerational fairness. This course introduces qualitative and quantitative evaluations through a mixture of theory and applied case-studies. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the field, we shall cover topics ranging from social sciences and political theory to GIS mapping of biodiversity indicators and economic valuation of ecosystem services.