General aims
Socio-economic systems rely upon ecosystems, sustainability aims at enabling human development without jeopardizing the Earth’s ecosystems. The most important environmental challenges that humankind is facing, such as climate change and extinction of species, are all interlinked. The underpinning drivers of such impacts should be addressed in a systematic manner.
This necessitates the maintenance of the planet’s ecological life-support system, which encompasses natural capital and ecosystem services, for an indefinite period. Consequently, from an economic, political and social point of view, reaching sustainable standards requires a new evaluation of responsibilities and strategies of the production and consumption chain starting from raw materials and feedstock.
The question of sustainability is contingent upon a range of factors, including the environmental impacts associated with the material used, the scale at which it is deployed, the existence of alternative resources, and the efficiency with which resources are utilised.

Accordingly, the course aims to provide an integrated understanding of sustainability based on planetary boundaries, ecological limits and the responsible use of biotic and abiotic resources.
Starting from the Earth System as a set of interconnected ecological, geological, atmospheric, hydrological and socio-economic subsystems, the course addresses how production and consumption systems alter environmental balances and generate pressures on ecosystems, resources and human societies.
The course combines three complementary perspectives: ecological foundations for interpreting global change and planetary boundaries; the role of plant biomass and organic residues as renewable feedstock for bioenergy and bioproducts; and the management of abiotic and non-renewable resources, including supply risk, criticality, circularity and environmental impacts.
Students will be introduced to concepts and tools such as ecosystem services, circular economy, cascading use, resource efficiency, life cycle assessment, footprints and policy frameworks, with the aim of evaluating sustainability beyond single-sector perspectives.
Through interdisciplinary case studies, students will learn to connect ecological processes, resource availability, technological options, environmental externalities and socio-economic constraints, developing the ability to critically assess strategies for the responsible use of renewable and non-renewable resources within planetary boundaries.

Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students will have developed a fundamental understanding of:
• ecological limits, carrying capacity, planetary boundaries, the Anthropocene and their links with sustainability and footprinting approaches;
• the structure and functioning of the Earth System and the interconnections among ecological, geological, atmospheric, hydrological and socio-economic subsystems;
• ecosystem services, natural capital and the role of ecological processes in supporting human development and production systems;
• the classification of resources, including biotic and abiotic resources, renewable and non-renewable resources, primary resources and secondary resources;
• the biological and ecological basis of plant biomass production, biomass classification and its valorisation in energy and productive supply chains;
• the principles of bioeconomy, circular economy, cascading use, resource efficiency and circularity, including their limits and trade-offs;
• the availability, supply risk, environmental impacts and criticality of abiotic and non-renewable resources;
• life cycle assessment, footprinting approaches and their use in connecting supply chains, environmental impacts and planetary boundaries;
• the main international policy frameworks related to environmental sustainability, renewable and non-renewable resources, circular economy and supply-chain assessment.

Applying knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
• apply the concept of sustainability and planetary boundaries to the analysis of production and consumption systems;
• distinguish renewable and non-renewable resources and discuss their different roles, constraints and impacts in sustainable development;
• interpret ecological indicators, ecosystem-service concepts, footprinting approaches and LCA-based information in the assessment of environmental pressure;
• analyse biomass use as renewable feedstock, identifying suitable valorisation pathways according to biomass origin, characteristics, sustainability and circular-economy principles;
• analyse the use of abiotic and non-renewable resources, considering availability, criticality, resource efficiency, circularity and environmental externalities;
• connect biological, ecological, chemical-physical, technological, economic and regulatory information when evaluating resource-management strategies;
• discuss interdisciplinary case studies by integrating evidence from the three modules and relating them to the UN 2030 Agenda and European and international sustainability frameworks.

Making judgements
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
• critically assess the interlinkages among resources, production and consumption systems, environmental pressures and ecological impacts in light of Earth-system limits;
• evaluate trade-offs between renewable and non-renewable resource use, including energy demand, material demand, land use, biodiversity, pollution, supply risk and socio-economic externalities;
• compare alternative circularity, recycling, cascading-use and biomass-valorisation strategies, identifying their strengths, limitations and possible rebound effects;
• critically interpret scientific literature, LCA results, footprint-based assessments and technical-regulatory documents;
• integrate ecological, technological, chemical, legal and economic perspectives to address complex sustainability problems;
• evaluate policies, plans and programmes related to sustainable resource management, circular economy and climate and environmental objectives;
• independently develop and critically discuss the final case study, supporting judgements with scientific evidence and appropriate methodological choices.

Communication skills
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
• communicate, using appropriate scientific terminology, the main ecological, technological and socio-economic issues related to planetary boundaries and sustainable resource use;
• present and discuss interdisciplinary case studies concerning renewable and non-renewable resources in a clear, structured and critical way;
• explain the objectives, methods, results and limitations of sustainability assessments, including LCA, footprinting and resource-efficiency analyses;
• interact with third parts during discussions, supporting arguments with scientific, technical and regulatory evidence.

Learning skills
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
• apply the acquired knowledge to identify best practices for sustainable resource use and to support future policies and management strategies;
• apply the acquired knowledge to new contexts, different from those specifically addressed in the course, independently integrating it with other sources of information;
• consult international scientific literature, databases and technical reports from research centres, local authorities, governments and international organizations;
• work both in groups and independently, using the scientific method as a working tool for analysing sustainability and resource-management issues.