Cost-Benefit Analysis Course and International Symposium on Valuing Environmental and Health Impacts
The SEA/environmental economics team, which operates in part under Bureau REACH and works closely with it, organised a training course on social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA).
The course took place across five sessions, from November 2024 through to the end of January 2025. Its aim was to familiarise RIVM staff with the principles of SCBA and its practical applications. The sessions also provided space to discuss specific questions, such as how to apply an SCBA within concrete projects. The course covered the economic theory underpinning SCBA, as well as the techniques and guidelines used in practice. SCBAs can help maximising the societal value of policy decisions, support prioritisation of projects, and clarify choices between policy alternatives.
One component of the course was an international symposium on valuing the health and environmental impacts of (policy) measures. The symposium took place on 9 January 2025 and was held in hybrid format. Constructive discussions reflected a strong interest in and need for the use of valuation methods and the application of their results to provide transparent assessments of the costs and benefits of substance-related policy measures.