Education

The Urban Economics group (UEC) participates in the BSc programmes Business and Consumer Studies (BBC), Economics and Governance (BEB), Health and Society (BGM), International Development Studies (BIN), and Landscape Architecture and Planning (BLP) and the MSc programmes Consumer Studies (MME-C), Economics of Sustainability (MME-D), Communication, Health and Life Sciences (MCH), Biobased Sciences (MBS), Environmental Sciences (MES) and Urban Environmental Management (MUE).

Courses

The Urban Economics group offers a wide range of courses in the fields of urban/regional/spatial economics, behavioral economics/consumer studies and general/health economics. Below you will find an overview of all courses; by clicking on the course code you will be redirected to more information (e.g., content, involved staff members, and scheduling) about the respective course in the course catalogue.

Next to these courses, the Urban Economics group also offers capita selecta (UEC-50301 t/m UEC-50306) for individual students who would like to increase their knowledge or improve their skills in the fields of urban, behavioral or health economics. The content and examination method of capita selecta will be determined in mutual consultation between student and supervisor. In case you are interested in capita selecta, you can contact the education coordinator Jannette van Beek to discuss the opportunities.

Courses: Coordination by UEC

Courses: Contribution by UEC

  • Landscape Economics and Politics (AEP-22306)
  • Economics of EU Policies for Sustainability Transitions (AEP-30306)
  • Circular Economy (BMO-26806)
  • Management and Economics of Health Care and Public Health (BMO-32806)
  • Economics (DEC-10306)
  • Human Geography (GEO-10306)
  • Principles of Consumer Studies (MCB-20806)
  • Applied Consumer Studies (MCB-32306)
  • Rethinking Economics for the Real World (RHI-30306)
  • Quantitative and Qualitative Research Techniques in the Social Sciences (YSS-20306)
  • Consumer, Technology and Innovation (YSS-31806)
  • Advanced Consumer Studies (YSS-33306)
  • Consumer Studies for Sustainability: Perspectives and Ethics (YSS-36806)

BSc and MSc theses

The Urban Economics group supervises both BSc and MSc theses for various study programmes. Below you will find an overview of potential thesis topics, organized per staff member. Note that this is a generic list of topics and that the specific topic and method will be determined in mutual consultation between student and supervisor. For further inspiration, you can find an overview of recent BSc and MSc theses at UEC and you can access recent MSc theses at UEC via the WUR library at the right side of this page. In case you are interested in writing your BSc or MSc thesis at UEC, you can contact the education coordinator Jannette van Beek to discuss the opportunities.

Eveline van Leeuwen

  • Healthy cities: are cities or its citizens less healthy?
  • Green cities: importance of green for quality of live, tourism, happiness
  • Inclusive cities: inequality, social networks and local engagement
  • Prosumers: consumers as producers of e.g. energy
  • Urban-rural interactions: how cities benefit from their hinterland and vice-versa
  • Spatial determinants of voting behaviour
  • Agent based modelling (ABM), choice experiments, (spatial) multi-criteria analysis.

Pierre van Mouche

  • Speltheorie
  • Giffen verschijnselen
  • De rol van status
  • Coalitieformatie
  • Milieu
  • Locatieproblemen
  • Bezittingseffect
  • Block chain en bitcoins

Jannette van Beek

  • A healthy future: Effects of time orientation on eating and exercising behavior
  • Choosing now for later: How temporal distance influences food choice
  • How the ‘future = abstract association’ affects current decision-making
  • Aiming for behavior change: A construal level theory approach
  • Promoting fruit consumption or preventing snack consumption? Effects of regulatory focus on health behavior
  • Fun or useful? Choosing between hedonic and utilitarian products

Solmaria Halleck Vega

  • Energy transition

    • Energy communities
    • Energy justice
    • Adoption and diffusion of renewable energy and/or energy efficiency measures

  • Spatial econometrics; network analysis; spatial data analysis

    • Applications using spatial econometric models based on cross-sectional or panel data
    • Applications using network analysis or spatial data analysis

  • Resilient regions and cities

    • Urban and regional economic and climate resilience
    • Climate crisis and inequality interlinkages
    • Regional labor markets
    • Regional development and policy

Liesbeth de Schutter

  • Food systems: What are the social, economic and environmental impacts of urban food systems?
  • Sustainable consumption: Cities are consumption hotspots – how can they contribute to sustainable development from a consumption perspective?
  • Environmental inequality: Are vulnerable social groups more affected by environmental pollution?
  • Bioeconomy: Identification of urban-rural cooperations to increase renewable resource use and/or reduce GHG emissions
  • Urban commoning: What are alternative urban provisioning systems and how are they governed?

Francesca Rubiconto

  • Environmental and social sustainability
  • Sustainable transitions of food systems
  • Innovation and sustainable development
  • Circular and inclusive food systems
  • Interdependencies between metropolitan regions and global economy

Carina Castagna

  • Behavioral science
  • Food security
  • Food waste
  • Well-being
  • Social psychology for sustainability

Franziska Klein

  • Theoretical approaches: Postgrowth, feminist, and ecological economics
  • Environmental problems related to cities
  • Time use/Working time
  • Climate policy

Education coordinator

For more information about courses or BSc and MSc theses, please contact the education coordinator Jannette van Beek.