As an undergraduate Economics teacher, you can use this set of computer-based tools to help you in teaching the concept of the tragedy of the commons.
This lesson plan will help students to understand the concept of tragedy of the commons, and to identify the “commons” and the “tragedy” in some example problems. In the activity, students will examine climate change as a tragedy of the commons and will discuss possible economic solutions (policy, development) for the problem.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a topic in Economics.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
1. Describe the concept of tragedy of the commons.
2. Discuss climate change as a tragedy-of-the-commons problem. Identify the “commons” and the “tragedy”.
3. Explain why “atmospheric sinks for greenhouse gases” can be considered as a “commons”.
4. Discuss different types of governance solutions for climate change as a tragedy of the commons. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each type of solution.
Understanding Tragedy of the Commons using Climate Change
About Lesson Plan
Grade Level
Undergraduate
Discipline
Economics
Topic(s) in Discipline
• Tragedy of the Commons
• The Economics of Climate Change
Climate Topic
• Energy, Economics, and Climate
• Policy, Politics, and Environmental Governance
Location
Global
Languages
English
Access
Online , Offline
Approximate Time Required
120 min
Contents
Micro-lecture (video)
(~11 min)
A micro-lecture (video) that introduces the concept of tragedy of the commons and provides examples to explain the terms “tragedy” and “commons”.
A classroom/laboratory activity to further understand tragedy of the commons through case studies, discuss “Earth’s atmosphere” as a commons and “global warming” as a tragedy, and propose solutions to solve this tragedy-of-the-commons problem.
A reading that discusses climate changeas a tragedy-of-the-commons problem (atmospheric sinks for greenhouse gases are the commons), provides an overview of current climate change governance, and describes polycentric governance strategies to address global climate change at various levels and scales.
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
1.Introduce the topic through a micro-lecture (video)
• Play the micro-lecture “Tragedy of the Commons”to introduce the concept of tragedy of the commons.
• Guide a brief discussionamong students to cite other examples of the tragedy of the commons problem,andto identify the “commons” and the “tragedy” in each example.
• In this activity, students will discuss case studies for different tragedy-of-the-commons problems. Then, they will examine Earth’s atmosphere as a commons and global warming as a tragedy, and will propose economic solutions to solve this tragedy.
• Read “Climate Change: The Ultimate Tragedy of the Commons” by Jouni Paavola in “Property in Land and Other Resources”, edited by Daniel H. Cole and Elinor Ostrom, Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, pp. 417-433.
• This reading describes climate change as a tragedy of the commons problem (atmospheric sinks for greenhouse gases are the commons) and analyzes the current state of climate change governance.It alsodiscussespolycentricity as a governance approach to address global climate change at various levels and scales, providing specific examples ofthe Cities for Climate Change program and the Cement Sustainability Initiative.
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
1. Describe the concept of tragedy of the commons.
2. Discuss climate change as a tragedy-of-the-commons problem. Identify the “commons” and the “tragedy”.
3. Explain why “atmospheric sinks for greenhouse gases” can be considered as a “commons”.
4. Discuss different types of governance solutions for climate change as a tragedy of the commons. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each type of solution.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to :
• describe tragedy of the commons
• provide examples of tragedy-of-the-commons problems
• identify the commons and the tragedy in a given tragedy-of-the-commons problem
• examine climate change as a tragedy-of-the-commons problem
• propose economic solutions (policy, development) for the climate change tragedy-of-the-commons
If you or your students would like to explore the topic further, these additional resources will be useful.
1
Micro-lecture (video)
A micro-lecture (video), “Tragedy of the Commons: Solutions”, delivered by Dr. Jonathan Tomkin, from the Introduction to Sustainability course by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on Coursera:
Reading, “Climate Change: The Ultimate Tragedy of the Commons”
Jouni Paavola in “Property in Land and Other Resources”, edited by Daniel H. Cole and Elinor Ostrom, Cambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, pp. 417-433; https://www.lincolninst.edu/
All the teaching tools and images in our collated list are owned by the corresponding creators/authors/organizations as listed on their websites. Please view the individual copyright and ownership details for each tool by following the individual links provided. We have selected and analyzed the tools that align with the overall objective of our project and have provided the corresponding links. We do not claim ownership of or responsibility/liability for any of the listed tools.
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