New requirements for forest policy and economics education at university level Intercathedra Meeting

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New requirements for forest policy and economics
education at university level Inter-cathedra
Meeting Sarajevo, November 27-30, 2006

• Franz Schmithüsen
• Forest Policy and Forest Economy, Department of
  Environmental Sciences
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich
  / Switzerland

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Bologna Process

• A great chance to foster innovation, cooperation
  and competition in science
• Forests and forestry in the context of a global
  economy
• World wide concerns on environment and climate
• Sustainable land use practices
• New scientific knowledge and research methodology
  in forest education
• Joint approach between forest management,
  landscape protection, and nature and preservation
  

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Overview on Issues to be discussed

• Driving factors of change
• Forest policy teaching
• Business management and economics
• Forest resources economics
• System approach in natural resources management
• Conclusions

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Incremental Forest Policy Demands (Schmithüsen
2003b)

• Incremental policy objectives
• From economic wood production to social and
  environmental demands
• From forest protection and management to
  preservation of biodiversity, nature and
  landscape
• Local and national political demands of land
  users
• Continental and worldwide concerns of citizens
  and governments
• Economic wood production, societal values and
  environmental protection on an equal basis

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Forestry Production and Management (Schmithüsen
et al. 2003a)

• New technological opportunities and markets
• Increase of productivity through rationalization
  and reduction of production costs
• Financial proceeds from marketable environmental
  and recreational services
• Optimization of the whole value added chain
  between forest production, wood processing and
  end-markets
• Understand the economics of multifunctional
  forest management practices

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Framework Explaining Behaviour of Land Owners
and Land Users
Source Schmithüsen, Bisang and Zimmermann, 2001
43 (modified)
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Teaching Requirements in Forest Policy

• Focus on
• Concepts, models and methodologies of the
  political sciences
• Forests and wood production as a land-use option
• Forestry as a significant contribution to
  environmental protection
• Primary teaching subjects
• Principle of sustainability for utilizing forest
  resources
• Forest uses as political, social and cultural
  phenomena
• Conflict regulation as the central element of
  forest policy
• Political systems and constitutional values
• Political institutions and political actors as
  the fundament of public decision making

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Understanding Political Decision Making

• The institutional dimension (polity) determines
  the constitutional framework for political
  decisions.
• The process dimension (politics) allows to
  identify the policy actors (stakeholders) and
  their political power to influence public
  decision making.
• The policy dimension deals with concrete
  political problems and solutions. It determines
  goals and measures to be accomplished.
• Of importance are the policy cycle, the choice of
  policy instruments, and policy programmes.

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Understanding Governance

• Relationship between the state and civil society
• Shift to a participatory style of policy making
• Interest groups, industry, non-governmental
  organisations (NGO), and public administrations
• Public and private policy actors operating on an
  equal level
• Market relations
• Societal self-regulation processes
• Negotiated public standards
• Reaction to policy failures due to rigid and
  in-effective top-down policy making

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Understanding Governance Networks

• Cooperation between the state and specific target
  groups
• Participation of citizens, stakeholder groups,
  industry and non-governmental organizations
  (NGOs)
• Coordination, inclusiveness, integration of
  relevant sector policies
• Multi-level transactions between private and
  public organizations
• Decentralization and transfer of public
  competencies following the principle of
  subsidiarity
• Objective oriented programmes, monitoring of
  performance, and evaluation of results
• Business standards for public administrations to
  measure effectiveness and efficiency of
  performance

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Forest Policy and Law Regulations (Schmithüsen
2004)
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Multiple Public Policy Impacts on Forest
Resources Utilization (Schmithüsen 2003c)
Rural Development, Land Use Planning, Land Tenure
Agriculture, Fisheries, Game Management
Environment Protection, Soil Conservation,
Water Resources
Sustainable Forest Resources Utilization
Nature Protection, Landscape Protection,
National Parks
Regional Development, Recreation and Tourism,
Public Infrastructures
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Multi-Level Governance Networks (Schmithüsen
2003)
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Teaching Requirements in Forest Business
Economics

• Teaching focus on
• Concepts, models and methodologies of the
  management and business economics sciences
• Knowledge of the relevant modern literature
• Understanding the specific conditions of the
  forestry and wood processing sector
• Development of entrepreneurial qualifications,
  strategic thinking, and human relations abilities
  
• Primary teaching subjects
• End markets as the driving factor of business
• Process management and strategic innovation
• Competitive wood production strategies
• Marketing of environmental and recreational
  services
• Multifunctional forestry production systems
• Optimization of the whole forest value added
  chain

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From Seller to Buyer Markets
Source Peters et al. (1999) Betriebswirtschaftsl
ehre Einführung. Oldenbourg Verlag, München.
133 p.
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Financing Multifunctional Forest Management for
Wood Production, Non-wood Products and
Environmental Services (Schmithüsen 2003)
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Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
of the Wood Processing Sector in the European
Union (E.C. 2000)

• Strengths
• expanding raw material basis
• high-level technology, know-how and expertise
• excellent access to large and sophisticate
  markets
• high density of innovative industrial clusters
• Weaknesses
• high raw material and labour costs
• limited investment and reinvestment
• low entrepreneurial research
• resistance to restructuring and rationalization
• lack of a wood using culture

• Opportunities
• wood as a life-style product
• integrated problem solutions
• cooperation in industrial clusters
• geographic and infrastructural synergies
• integration and optimization within the whole
  supply-chain
• decentralization to cost-competitive areas
• Threats
• regional and intercontinental competition
• lack of innovation for products and problem
  solving services
• competition from non-wood materials
• lack of environmental acceptability from
  end-users

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Teaching Requirements in Forest Resources
Economics

• Teaching focus on
• understand economic values related to
  environmental protection and renewable resources
  management
• understanding human behaviour in economic terms
  towards forests, nature and landscape
• understanding economic efficient solution for
  ecological problems
• Primary teaching subjects
• economic decisions dependent on natural processes
  
• inter-temporal economic effects in forestry
  production
• economic implications from external production
  and consumption effects
• economic aspects of public goods and common
  property resources

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Resources and Environmental Economics

• The terminology, fundamental concepts and
  methodologies of resources and environmental
  economics are the basis for analysing specific
  forest resources problems.
• Resources economics deal with optimization of
  production and consumption processes in a dynamic
  and inter-temporal resources allocation
  perspective. It develops models for an optimal
  consumption of resources and for correcting
  sub-optimal consumption practices.
• Environmental economics deal with positive and
  negative external effects in production and
  consumption. It analyses ways and means to
  internalize those effects to arrive at
  environmentally friendly utilization and
  consumption processes.

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Differences between Ecological and Classical
Economics

• Ecological economics deal with dynamic systems in
  full evolution and with human preferences
  reflecting ecological opportunities and
  constraints.
• They are concerned with ecosystems, renewable
  resources and environment.
• They use a scientific multi- und
  trans-disciplinary approach.
• Classical economics focus largely on static
  systems determined by individual demands and
  preferences of consumers as the driving factors
  within a market economy.

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System Approach in Analysing Renewable Natural
Resources Protection and Utilization

• Sustainability as the guiding principle
• Multifunctional and locally adapted land
  management solutions
• Natural processes and societal behaviour
• Political institutions and involvement of
  stakeholders
• Market based instruments and coordinated public
  policies
• Multidisciplinary teaching and research approach
• Common scientific basis in dealing with economic
  and societal demands, cultural change

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Human Environment Systems Interactions in
Sustainable Natural Resources Management
(Schmithuesen 2004)
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Conclusions 1-4

• Forest policy teaching needs to be based more
  clearly than in the past on disciplinary
  concepts, models and research methodologies of
  the political sciences.
• The content of forest policy and law programmes
  has to expand from a narrow sector view to a
  comprehensive understanding of public policy
  making, governance networks and multilevel
  political processes.
• Forest economics related to private and public
  land management need to focus on a comprehensive
  understanding of entrepreneurial decisions and
  management.
• Knowledge of business economics, analytical
  skills, social capabilities, leadership are
  primary teaching goals.

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Conclusions 5-9

• Fundamental issues of natural resources and
  environmental economics need to be included in
  forestry curricula
• Professional foresters need to understand public
  value judgments related to environmental,
  recreational and landscape services
• Social and cultural development is an essential
  part of academic programmes for university forest
  education
• Understand the dynamic changes in mans relation
  to forests, nature and environment is the primary
  focus.
• Academic teaching of the socio-economic aspects
  in forestry curricula should be based on a system
  approach analysing natural resources use and land
  management.

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European Landscapes and Forests as
Representations of Culture (Seeland and
Schmithuesen 2006)
Cultural Processes Shaping Forests and Landscapes
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References

• Schmithüsen, F. Bisang, K. Zimmermann, W.,
  2001 Cross-Sector Linkages in Forestry Review
  of Available Information and Considerations on
  Further Research. Working Document No 1, 56 pp.
  Forestry Department FAO, Rome.
• Schmithüsen, F. Kaiser, B. Schmidhauser, A.
  Mellinghoff, St. Kammerhofer, A. W. 2003a
  Unternehmerisches Handeln in der Wald- und
  Holzwirtschaft Betriebswirtschaftliche
  Grundlagen und Managementprozesse. Deutscher
  Betriebswirte-Verlag, Gernsbach. 560 S.
• Schmithüsen, F., 2003b The Global Revolution in
  Sustainable Forest Policy A European
  Perspective. Pinchot Lecture Series Pinchot
  Institute for Conservation, Washington D.C. 23
  pp.
• Schmithüsen, F., 2003c Understanding
  Cross-Sectoral Policy Impacts Policy and Legal
  Aspects. FAO Forestry Paper 142 5-44 (2003)
  FAO, Rome.
• Schmithüsen, F., 2004 European Forest Policy
  Developments in Changing Societies Political
  Trends and Challenges to Research. In Towards
  the Sustainable Use of Europes Forests Forest
  Ecosystem and Landscape Research Scientific
  Challenges and Opportunities. EFI Proceedings No.
  49 87-99, European Forest Institute, Joensuu,
  Finland.
• Schmithüsen, F. Seeland, K., 2006 European
  Landscapes and Forest as Representation of
  Culture. Paper presented to the International
  Conference on Cultural Heritage and Sustainable
  Forest Management The Role of Traditional
  Knowledge, June 2006 Italian Academy of Forestry
  Science, Florence, Italy. (8 p.)

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Thank you !