Material Flow Analysis

The course provides an introduction into the analysis, evaluation, and design of the anthropogenic metabolism on various scales (companies, cities, countries, world). The students will learn how to use MFA in order to anticipate changes in resource demand and emissions, to interpret these changes in terms of consequences for the environment, resource security, employment, or geopolitical conditions, and to identify opportunities for changing the system in a desired direction. The methodological elements of the course include: i) terminology, system definition, and indicator selection; ii) mathematical representation of systems; iii) mathematical representation of uncertainty, sensitivity analysis, and data reconciliation; iv) dynamic modeling; v) introduction to and application of various software for MFA modeling. The methodology lectures are supplemented by background lectures, which include practical examples of MFAs. In the exercises, the students will employ the tools and methodologies in practical examples related to the main human activities (to nourish, to clean, to transport and communicate, to reside and work). The lectures will contain interactive elements with short discussions.

Knowledge:
The students will optain knowledge about:
- the main challenges and strategies for the socio-economic metabolism related to the basic human activities (to nourish, to clean, to transport and communicate, to reside and work);
- the theory of the socio-economic metabolism and its examination in space and time through material flow analysis (MFA).

Skills:
The students will be able
- to explain the role of key substances and materials in today's societal metabolism and their potential interactions with the environment;
- to define MFA systems, and to describe a system as a mathematical model in order to test the impact of data uncertainties and to develop simple scenarios(forecasting, backcasting, analyzing implications of interventions);
- to point out and reflect on strengths, limitations, and specific areas of application of different MFAs(including other industrial ecology tools that build on them), and to interpret the results in terms of their policy implications(e.g., judge the effectiveness of different interventions).

General competence
The students will:
- familiarize with the use of system approaches for solving complex problems;
- become aware of the similarities and differences between MFA and other industrial ecology tools, the types of questions they can address, and their limitations;
- learn to effectively communicate complex information with practitioners (including visual representation).

Lectures and exercises. The course will be taught in English. If there is a re-sit examination, the examination form may be changed from written to oral.