"Krea has offered me the opportunity to explore all my interests in the same place, and has changed the way I approach problems and come up with impactful solutions".

Aishwarya Sivaramakrishnan

Cohort of 2022
Passionate about creating measurable social impact in the field of education, and dreams of moving to Germany and owning a library

Economics and Environment Studies at Krea

Globally, the functioning and perpetuation of large economies are predicated mainly on utilising natural resources to power growth. With a focus on continuous growth, measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and similar indices, economic systems continue to exert pressure on finite resources contained within environmental systems. A combination of factors, ranging from rapidly changing world economic scenarios and the political economy, and changing aspirations of the developing world create a material-intensity that is often at loggerheads with the environment. Two centuries after the Industrial Revolution, the world of today is one with historically unprecedented levels of income and wealth inequality. This inequality is magnified through the lop-sided exposure of the poor to externalities created by environmental degradation. However, the recognition of the factors listed above have also led to radical and pathbreaking attempts to stem the flood through fundamental paradigmatic shifts in the way we look at economics and the environment. Scenarios that promote a ‘business as usual’ approach are increasingly being recognised as inimical to social and environmental concerns, thereby paving the way for ideologies such as green growth, de-growth, and the green new deal.

The Approach

The Economics- Environment Studies joint major at Krea has been designed to provide students essential theoretical bases, an understanding of historical perspectives, knowledge of key analytical tools, and an exposure to topics emerging at the intersection of these two areas. In addition to coursework in the joint major, we envision student capstone projects to reflect an application of learning from these multiple perspectives.

Programme Details