18249 - Land and Environmental Appraisal

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student acquires knowledge of appraisal applications and the related regulations in the territorial and environmental context. Specifically, the student can evaluate real estate assets relevant to rural areas and contribute to assessing environmental goods and services.

Course contents

Prerequisites:

Students enrolling in this course should have a solid foundation in mathematics, economics, and statistics fundamentals. They should also possess knowledge of the agricultural and agro-forestry production systems. These competencies and knowledge are acquired through the coursework completed in the first two years of the program.

Course Syllabus

The topics covered in this course are divided into four instructional units: rural appraisal, legal appraisal, environmental appraisal, and project evaluation.

RURAL APPRAISAL (24 hours)

a. Content aims and methods of appraisal.

i. Appraisal criteria

ii. Appraisal procedures

iii. Professional ethics

b. Appraisal of rural properties

i. Rural real estate market

ii. Comparative market analysis

iii. Income capitalization approach

iv. Complementary value estimation

c. Appraisal of rural buildings

i. Buildings used for agricultural activities.

ii. Buildings in need of renovation

d. Appraisal of fruit tree crops

i. Cycles and production systems for fruit trees

ii. Mixed fruit tree systems

iii. Specialized fruit tree systems

e. Appraisal of forests

i. Value of understory vegetation

ii. Soil value estimation

iii. Forest appraisal

f. Appraisal of hanging fruits

g. Elements of financial calculations

i. Capital and interest

ii. Simple interest

iii. Compound interest

iv. Periodicity

h. Land cadastre

i. Purposes and structure of the land cadastre

ii. Land cadastre documents and practices

Competency Goals:

Students will understand the main criteria and procedures for appraising rural assets, as well as the legal and social context in which these assets are situated. They will be capable of determining the market value of rural properties, rural buildings, fruit orchards, and forests.

LEGAL APPRAISAL (10 hours)

a. Technical consultancy and arbitration

i. Dispute resolution

ii. Judicial process

iii. Arbitration or compromise

b. Appraisal related to public utility expropriations.

i. Procedural aspects

ii. Criteria for assessing expropriation compensation.

iii. Additional compensation

iv. Temporary occupation

c. Damages appraisal

i. Insurable damages

ii. Fire damages

iii. Damages to fruit tree crops

iv. Pollution damages

v. Hail damages

Competency Goals:

Students will develop professional skills applicable to expropriation procedures and damage assessment.

ENVIRONMENTAL APPRAISAL (18 hours)

a. Total Economic Value (TEV), externalities, and public goods

i. From market value to social value

ii. Total economic value: use value, option value, existence value

b. Criteria and methods for valuing environmental goods.

i. Criteria for valuing environmental goods.

ii. Monetary methods: market price, defensive expenditures, restoration cost, travel cost, hedonic price, contingent valuation, contingent ranking/classification

iii. Non-monetary methods: multicriteria evaluation

c. Environmental damage assessment

d. Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment

Competency Goals:

Students will be able to understand the procedures and contribute to assessing environmental goods and services.

PROJECT EVALUATION (8 hours)

i. Private investment evaluation

ii. Public investment evaluation: cost-benefit analysis

Competency Goals:

Students will develop the necessary professional skills to assess the financial and economic feasibility of a project and choose the most favourable alternative among several options.

Readings/Bibliography

Gallerani V., Zanni G. e Viaggi D. (2011): Manuale di Estimo, Seconda Edizione, Milano, McGraw-Hill. (Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27)

Class notes

Teaching methods

The course includes traditional classroom lectures, complemented by exercises applying the concepts learned, seminars, and the analysis of case studies.

The acquisition of knowledge and the ability to understand will be continuously monitored during classroom lectures through ongoing interaction between the instructor and the students. The interaction between the lecturer and students, which will involve discussing topics covered in the course, particularly those related to current issues in the discipline, aims to promote independent judgment and improve communication skills.

Through the practical exercises, students' ability to apply the acquired knowledge to common cases in rural and environmental appraisal will be assessed.

Considering the nature of the activities and teaching methods, attending this educational activity requires prior completion of Modules 1 and 2 on safety in the learning environment through e-learning.

Assessment methods

Assessment is carried out through a single final examination, consisting of an oral interview lasting approximately 25 minutes. The examination results in a mark expressed out of thirty.

During the oral interview, students will be asked one question for each of the two teaching units of the course; each question must be answered at least sufficiently. An additional question concerning either financial mathematics or the land cadastre will form an integral part of the examination and complete it. In determining the final mark, the three questions will be given equal weight.

No technical manuals, notes, textbooks, IT tools, generative Artificial Intelligence applications, or calculation aids are required or permitted during the examination.

Students will be expected to demonstrate not only knowledge of the topics covered in the course, but also the ability to connect the different topics, appropriate command of technical and disciplinary terminology, and the aptitude to solve appraisal-related problems.

Assessment will be graded according to the following criteria:

• limited or mainly mnemonic preparation, with analytical and connection-making skills emerging only with the support of the teacher, and with an overall correct use of disciplinary language, will result in a mark between 18 and 21/30;
• adequate preparation on the main topics of the course, together with the ability to apply knowledge to simple cases and with correct exposition, will result in a mark between 22 and 25/30;
• broad and well-structured preparation, with good ability to connect topics, autonomy in the analysis of appraisal problems, and appropriate use of technical terminology, will result in a mark between 26 and 29/30;
• complete and in-depth preparation, together with full conceptual and terminological command, critical analysis skills, autonomous ability to connect course contents, and rigorous argumentation, will result in a mark of 30/30 or 30/30 with honours.

With regard to assessment, the use of generative Artificial Intelligence is prohibited. Any use of generative AI constitutes a breach of academic integrity.

The dates, times and locations of examinations are published on the degree programme website. Students must register for examination sessions through the AlmaEsami web application: https://almaesami.unibo.it/

Students with temporary or permanent disabilities or specific learning disorders are advised to contact the University office responsible in good time (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ). The office will propose any necessary adaptations to the students concerned; such adaptations must in any case be submitted to the lecturer for approval at least 15 days in advance. The lecturer will assess their appropriateness also in relation to the learning outcomes of the course.

Teaching tools

PC and Projector

Case studies

Office hours

See the website of Rino Ghelfi