Chair Lhoist Berghmans

It is a recognized fact that environmental issues are omnipresent in business today. This concern for the environment is quite rightly interpreted as the expression of collective aspirations for better quality of life. The Chair Lhoist Berghmans, "Environmental Economics and management", forms part of this framework.

A teaching and research chair, the Chair Lhoist Berghmans aims to underpin research likely to improve knowledge from three points of view:

• evaluation of costs for industry of applying alternative technologies;
• evaluation of the benefits for the community of applying these technologies;
• evaluation of the global impact of industrial activities on the environment and on the improvement of living conditions through the use of their products.

An interdisciplinary approach to these problems is needed in order to integrate the environmental, economic, technological and institutional factors into a coherent process and to quantify the effects of new environmental policy instruments on the competitiveness of industries and countries and on the overall wealth of these countries. Improving decision-making tools, both on an enterprise and community scale, is the main theme of this research. In addition to the research, the Chair will be responsible for the following courses:

• a course on "Environment and global economy" mainly aimed at students of economics;
• a course on "Environment and enterprise" mainly for civil engineering and management students;
• a seminar on "Management of environmental issues".

These courses aim to provide undergraduates with rigorous training in economic theory of the environment, as well as interdisciplinary and open training on economic policy issues.