Circular Education Based Around the Programmes: Jean Monnet Module on “Environmental Valuation and Accounting”

This chapter is about a teaching program funded by the European Union under the ERASMUS+ programs ( https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/ ) to promote closer cooperation between universities and higher education institutions across Europe. These include the “Jean Monnet” actions, which are implemented to support teaching, learning, research, and debate on various aspects of the European Union’s matters, future challenges, and opportunities. The Jean Monnet Modules are teaching courses in the field of European Union studies at a higher education institution, focusing on a particular discipline with a multidisciplinary approach. Furthermore, they must also disseminate and exploit the results of organized teaching and research activities beyond their direct scope. The Environmental Valuation and Accounting (EVA) Module focuses on the state of the art and latest advances in ecological valuation of ecosystem services for public policy and ecosystem accounting. The valorisation of ecosystem services is a central topic in sustainability issues due to their central role in conserving and enhancing biodiversity, improving the resilience of communities, and economies, and achieving climate goals. Putting such values in direct connection with the System of national Accounts and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting—Ecosystem Accounting frameworks, recently adopted as a standard by the United Nations Environment Programme (March 2021), has been a specific topic.