Ph.D. position in forest policy and planning

Forest planning for meeting forest owners and societal demands.

Description:

The aim of this Ph.D. student position is a doctoral degree within a 4-year Ph.D. project.  The forest management plan represents a key instrument for the family forest owner to implement forest management. The project will examine ways to improve the way forest management plans are developed so that they better respond to forest owners’ needs and take a better account of values in the surrounding landscape. The current – single-objective and single-scenario – format of the plan should be revised to allow the owner to better balance diverse objectives and consider a broader range of management options. Therefore, there is a need for advancing the core capacity of those preparing the plans – the planners – from production-oriented technical expertise to a wider skill set that includes economic outcomes, recreational values, forest for next-generation owners, and landscape values.

Towards these ends, the project will: (i) Make in-depth investigations of current knowledge management for constructing and using forest management plans; (ii) Explore and test methods for how ecosystem service trade-offs among different management options can be brought into the forest management plan; (iii) Pilot enhanced procedures for developing forest management plans that better match owners’ goals and promote diversification. The project will be conducted closely with forestry experts at the forest owner association Södra and the Swedish Forest Agency. The project will be a part of a larger collaboration programme Co-Creator, “Co-creating advisory services and planning for diversified management in Swedish family forestry,” where Ph.D. students will work collaboratively with scientists in forest policy, planning, environmental psychology, sociology, ecology, and landscape architecture.

Place of work:      

Alnarp

Forms for funding or employment:

Employment (4 years)

More information here: https://www.slu.se/en/departments/southern-swedish-forest-research-centre/research1/doktorand-inom-skogspolitik2/