Author: Global Landscapes Forum WT

The Chair for Silviculture accepts applications from external participants for its integrated land use course.

Integrated Land Use Systems (Summer School, 26 June -14 July 2023, hybrid course):

The rapidly growing world population and changing consumption patterns are placing increasing pressure on agricultural and forestry production systems. However, the classic intensification approach to increase yield of food and biomass by genetic standardization, mechanization and application of pesticides and fertilizer, has led to ambivalent results. In many places, negative environmental and social consequences have been observed such as soil degradation, eutrophication, decline in fresh water resources, loss of biodiversity, as well as land-use conflicts, loss of employment, and rural-urban migration.

Integrated Land Use Systems (ILUS), which combine different types of land uses and integrate several management goals, are gaining attention. It is assumed that ILUS compared to classic production systems provide a higher level of ecosystem goods and services, are less vulnerable to the risks of global change and market volatilities, and are better suited to the livelihood strategies of rural populations. However, despite these promises, in practice, ILUS still play an only minor role in most agricultural landscapes. Against this backdrop, this module intends to carefully reflect about the economic, social and environmental features of important ILUS and possibilities for broader diffusion.

Course aim:

One goal is to familiarize participants with important ILUS (e.g., agroforestry systems) by gaining up to date expert knowledge. The second major goal is to train competencies in the analysis of ecological, social and economic foundations and effects of ILUS. The participants will be organized into small working groups to conduct in-depth analyses on selected ILUS issues, taking into account different geographical regions, socioeconomic settings and production objectives.

To prepare the groups for this task, experts introduce into key aspects of ILUS from technical, environmental and economic perspectives, and present relevant insights from South-America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Furthermore, excursions to the surroundings of Freiburg will provide practical insights about the relevance, potentials and challenges related to the application of ILUS. Based on this input, the participants will gradually develop their group work, which will be presented and discussed at the end of of the module.

After completing the course students are able to

• describe and classify different types of ILUS,
• explain the history of ILUS and particularly their recent emergence as possible and more sustainable alternatives to commercial tree and crop monocultures,
• analyse the performance and potential of ILUS with respect to environmental, economic and sociocultural considerations,
• relate ILUS to specific issues and processes including contribution to food security, economic growth, watershed protection and biodiversity conservation, and
• critically reflect about the implications of ILUS in sustainable land use and rural livelihoods.

Target Group:

The module is designed for international graduate students,consultants and land use professionals,  as well as for young scientists working in the field of forest, agricultural, and environmental sciences, geography, rural development, land use planning, landscape ecology and other related fields of natural resource management. The programme is open for applications from all countries.

Further information:

Scientific Coordinators	Prof. Dr. Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt, Dr. Sabine Reinecke
Type	Continuing Education Course
Organizer	Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Chair of Silviculture in cooperation with external experts
This course will be useful for	Graduates of forestry and land use programmes, researchers and PhD students, consultants and land use professionals
Prerequisites for participation	University degree related to agriculture or forestry (minimum 30 ECTS in specific modules), a minimum of two years working experience in a related sector, excellent English language skills
Format	Three week full time seminar (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm), hybrid (i.e. presence in Freiburg expected from 03-11 July, with excursions)
Dates	26 June – 14 July 2023
Certificate	Participants of the course will receive a Qualified Participation Certificate
Credit points	5 CP according to the ECTS (if the voluntary oral exam is passed)
Location	Tennenbacher Straße 4 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Application Deadline	25 May 2023 (first come first served if eligible)
Course Fee	450 Euro for hybrid option with excursions and lunch (an invoice will be sent after acceptance of the application), excluding costs for accommodation, food and travel
Scholarships	There are no scholarships available for the course and no logistical support for travel or accommodation. Interested participants are requested to look for their own sources of funding.

Freiburg:

• Freiburg, “the green city” is a traditional but at the same time also a very young and dynamic university city. It is located close to the black forest, France and Switzerland and is considered to be one of the most attractive cities in Germany – especially in summer.
• Many sustainability initiatives originated in Freiburg, and it is one of the European centres of renewable energy development and sustainability research.
• The Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg was founded in 1457 and is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Students can choose from over 150 programmes at 11 faculties. At present, 25,000 students are enrolled.

More information and application:

Download the application form here.

Download our flyer here.

The class of 2019 has compiled a joint report on the lessons learned in the course on Integrated Land Use Systems that can be downloaded here (PDF).

Contact:

Universität Freiburg

Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources

Chair of Silviculture

Dr. Sabine Reinecke

Tennenbacherstr. 4, 79106 Freiburg

ilus@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de

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The Yale Forest Forum is excited to announce the next speaker series for spring 2023, taking place on Tuesdays, January 17 – April 25th from 12:00 – 1:00 pm US ET. Hosted by The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment(link is external) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Smallholder Planted Forests and Trees for Climate, Restored Landscapes, and Livelihoods

Planted forests, defined as forests that at maturity are predominantly composed of trees established through planting and/or deliberate seeding[i] represent 7 percent of global forest area[ii]. While the world’s natural forests are shrinking, with 420 million ha of forest lost through deforestation over the last 30 years[iii], the surface of planted forests is continuously expanding. Planted forests and trees outside of forests e.g., woodlots, fruit trees, hedgerows, etc. harbor an untapped potential to fulfill future needs through area expansion and productivity increases in existing planted forests[iv].

A significant portion of planted forests and trees outside forests are owned and/or managed by smallholders. Smallholder forestry usually takes place on land privately owned by non-industrial stakeholders. While smallholder forestry has a long history in Western Europe and North America, it has rapidly expanded in recent years to other parts of the globe[v]. Between 1990 and 2005, the area under smallholder ownership has increased three-fold[vi] and by 2005, smallholders owned 26% of planted forests globally[vii], largely exceeding planted forest area under corporate ownership. Furthermore, planted forests managed for productive functions made up 32% of all global planted forest area[viii].

Despite these increases, smallholders face technical, commercial, policy, and institutional challenges that hamper their performance, negatively impact their returns on investment, and ultimately affect their long-term viability. As reported by FAO[ix], smallholders have driven the dramatic expansion of tree plantations worldwide in the recent past and this trend may reverse if smallholders are forced to change from forestry to another land use.

This webinar series will focus on ways to harness the potential of smallholder planted forests and trees to contribute to the provision of environmental services, including addressing climate change, and livelihoods. It will primarily focus on the following questions:

• What are the key success factors in the establishment and management of planted forests and trees outside forests by smallholders?
• Which management objectives do smallholders pursue and how are they implemented according to business best-practices?
• What are the operational risks, financial risks, and vulnerabilities smallholders face related to quickly evolving markets and a changing climate?
• Which models and practices are most promising?
• Which opportunities and business models arise from the transition towards carbon-neutral economies and the global momentum for ecosystem restoration?
• What can be done to support smallholders? (i.e., policy, producers’ organizations, etc.

Join us every Tuesday from January 17 – April 25 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm U.S. ET.

Note there will be no webinar on March 14 and March 21.

 

Click here to register

Register once to attend all webinars and view the recordings.

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