Winter School on Applied Economics for Sustainable Development (WiSED):

The challenges of ecological transition: North-South perspective

IMPORTANT: Application deadline: Extended to Friday, November 10, 2025

This initiative is jointly organized by Tuscia University (UNITUS), the Facultad de Estudios Superiores Acatlán (UNAM FES-A), and the Latin American Institute (Freie Universität).

Objective: WiSED aims to foster critical reflection on sustainable economic development in Latin America by bridging regional schools of thought with hands-on quantitative methods. Distinguished keynote speakers will offer critical analyses—rooted in their respective intellectual traditions—of the barriers and opportunities that developing economies face in the green and energy transition. The final day of the program will be dedicated to a conference featuring research papers and presentations by the participants.

Official Languages: English.

Location: Tuscia University (UNITUS)- Viterbo, Italy

Target Audience:

WiSED is aimed at graduate and advanced undergraduate students in Europe specializing in development studies, environmental economics, and/or energy transition. It also welcomes Latin American students based in Europe working on related topics.

In collaboration with the Young Scholars Initiative (YSI), a pre-conference session will be held to promote the participation of young scholars. Selected participants will also attend the main Winter School activities.

WiSED will include a broader group of students and researchers, as well as keynote speakers invited by the organizing institutions (UNITUS, UNAM-FES Acatlán, and the Latin American Institute at Freie Universität). The pre-conference seeks to foster exchange between YSI members and the wider academic community.

Partial funding will be available through YSI.

Program Structure

• Part A. Morning Theoretical courses: Plenary sessions featuring leading scholars who will discuss:
  • Theoretical and policy-oriented perspectives on green transitions
  • Case studies of renewable energy adoption, industrial policy, and inclusive growth
• Part B. Afternoon Hands-on workshop: Intensive, application-focused training in quantitative techniques.

The Ecological Transition from a North-South Perspective: Theoretical and Empirical Analytical Tools

Part One – A: Theoretical Course

• General Description: The course is designed to provide analytical tools for examining the relationship between ecological transition and economic development from the perspectives of theory, measurement approaches, and policy implications. This objective will be achieved by employing the frameworks of ecological macroeconomics, new developmentalism, and sustainable human development. These perspectives will enable a comprehensive analysis of how the ecological transition can be addressed through the study of structural change, innovation, social inclusion, and the coordination of fiscal, monetary, industrial, and environmental policies. Special emphasis will be placed on topics such as the Green New Deal and just transition, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
• Objective: Participants will acquire a comprehensive understanding of the principal economic and social dimensions of the ecological transition, as well as proficiency in theoretical and empirical analytical tools essential for formulating effective policy proposals. In addition, one of the course objectives is to foster a critical awareness of the complexity inherent in the phenomenon, the diversity of both mainstream and heterodox approaches, and the varying geographical perspectives between the Global North—with particular emphasis on the European Union—and the Global South, with specific reference to Latin America

Part One – B: Hands-on Workshop

• General Description: This session will encompass the analysis of empirical research and case studies about the ecological transition, ecological structural change and policy coordination, as well as the construction of multidimensional indicators for sustainable human development and the formulation of macroeconomic econometric models. Participants will gain practical experience implementing these tools using R to evaluate issues related to environmental exports, international competitiveness, R&D expenditure, as well as human development index.
• Objective: This session aims to equip participants with the advanced skills in the critical review and application of empirical methodologies within the context of ecological transition. Moreover, the workshop aims to give to the participants the ability to design and implement multidimensional indicators that capture the complexity of human development in line with sustainability criteria. It wants to enhance their capacity to integrate empirical evidence and quantitative modeling in the formulation of policy recommendations and academic research

Energy transitions in Latin America

Part One – A: Theoretical Course

• General Description: This course examines the macroeconomic challenges of financing energy transitions in Latin American economies. Drawing on expertise in emerging market vulnerabilities and financial globalization, Prof. Fritz analyzes how external debt dynamics, capital flows, and financial integration affect Latin American countries’ capacity to fund sustainable energy infrastructure. The course will explore the intersection of climate policy and macroeconomic stability, focusing on the unique constraints and opportunities facing the region in achieving energy transition goals while managing external vulnerabilities.
• Objective: Course participants will understand the relationship between capital flows, exchange rate pressures, monetary policy and fiscal policy spaces, and climate finance in emerging markets, while evaluating policy frameworks and financing mechanisms specific to Latin America’s energy transition challenges and assessing the trade-offs between climate investments and external balance considerations in the region

Part One – B: Hands-on Workshop

• General Description: This hands-on workshop introduces participants to the analysis of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data for studying green transitions, climate change, and sustainable development in developing countries, with applications focused on Latin America. The session provides foundational understanding of spatial statistical and econometric methods, covering the intuition behind spatial data analysis and its relevance for climate and energy transition research. Participants will gain practical experience implementing these tools using R, working with real spatial datasets to explore questions related to renewable energy deployment, environmental impacts, and regional development patterns in Latin American contexts.
• Objective: This workshop aims to equip participants with the theoretical foundations and practical skills needed to analyze spatial data for climate and green transition research in developing countries. Participants will develop intuition for spatial statistical and econometric methods, learn to implement GIS data analysis techniques using R, and apply these tools to real-world questions related to renewable energy, environmental change, and regional development patterns in Latin America, thereby building capacity to incorporate spatial analysis into their own research on climate economics and sustainable development

Latin American development: Seeds of a critical economic tradition

Part One – A.1: Theoretical Course

• General Description: This course offers a concise and general overview of the Latin American economy from the First Globalization to the present. The analysis is structured into four periods: from 1875 to 1945, when a liberal economic structure based on primary exports was adopted to promote growth; from 1945 to 1982, when the import substitution industrialization model proposed by ECLAC modified the role of the government as an active economic player; from 1982 to 2003, when the neoliberal reforms reoriented economic policy toward a market-driven model; and from 2003 to the present, when the Chinese economy gained prominence and transformed international trade relations. Finally, the course concludes with a critical reflection on the social, economic, political and environmental challenges that the region currently faces.
• Objective: The course provides an analysis of Latin America’s economic history from 1875 to the present to understand the major transformations the region has experienced, particularly how the economic policies implemented have shaped its growth and development.

Part One – A.2: Theoretical Course

• General Description: This short course explores the foundations, critiques, and contemporary relevance of Latin American structuralist thought. Through a historical and analytical approach, it examines the structuralist critique of orthodox economics and its enduring impact on development theory. Special attention will be given to discussions on ecological macroeconomics in Latin America and the convergence between Post-Keynesian heterodoxy and structuralism as a basis for renewed agendas aimed at sustainable and inclusive development.
• Objective: his course aims to examine the main theses and critiques of Latin American structuralist thought through a historical overview of economic thinking in the region. It will explore its influence across various subdisciplines and its role as a critical alternative to orthodox economics. Finally, the course will address contemporary research agendas that emerge from the dialogue between Latin American structuralism and heterodox schools of thought, particularly Post-Keynesian economics

Part One – B: Hands-on Workshop

• General Description:  In this session, students will understand the logic of dynamical systems as a set of differential equations, gaining both theoretical insight and practical modeling skills. They will also know how to obtain numerical simulations of dynamical systems in R and be able to represent the results according to academic standards of transparency and replicability, ensuring the clarity and reliability of their computational work.
• Objective: The main objectives of this course include developing the ability to manage a wide range of R packages specifically designed for the study of dynamical systems, such as de Solve, Phase R, and FME, enabling them to carry out robust and reproducible analyses for academic research

Conference

We invite participants to present their current investigations. Main topics:

• Fiscal sustainability and the Green Transition
• International Financial Architecture and Access to Green finance
• The role of public and multilateral finance in supporting a just transition.
• Trade, Technological Dependency, and the Reconfiguration of Global Value Chains
• Impacts of decarbonization on export structures reliant on natural resources.
• Industrial policy strategies for a green transformation under external constraint.
• Demand-led Growth and Ecological Transition
• Just Transition, Employment, and Inequality
• Assessing the potential of green sectors to absorb informal and precarious labor.
• Climate Change, Debt, and Macroeconomic Resilience
• Economic vulnerability to climate disasters
• Political Economy of the Green Transition
• Distributional conflicts and institutional coalitions in Green Transition.

Organizing Team

Coordinator: Julia Juarez

UNITUS: Chiara Grazini – Giulio Guiarini

LAI: Manuel Santos Silva

UNAM: Alejandra Arredondo

Young Scholar Initiative:

Manuel Valencia (Latin American Research Group);
Santiago Graña (Economic Development Research Group)

Helena Morais (Keynesian Research Group)