Course content: Emphasis is on the political and socio-economic aspects of community forestry as a means to promote rural development and conserve forest/nature resources in an equitable manner. Central themes are the theoretical foundation of community forestry vis á vis the tragedy of the (unman-aged) commons, conflict management, institutional arrangements, policy, legislation and eco-nomic incentives. Subjects include how to identify legitimate stakeholders in community forestry, locally and externally determined factors that are likely to promote or undermine the success of community forestry, how the political and legislative environment influences community forestry and how community forestry may be implemented in practice.
Teaching and learning methods: (i) E-learning (e-modules): internet-based teaching modules integrating literature studies and exercises. Exercises relate to theory (multiple-choice and free text exercises) and case studies (free text only). E-learning will be supported by on-line discussions in which students are expected to participate. (ii) In addition, a number of presentations, analyses and discussions of selected topics and cases as well as e-learning support will be offered as classroom sessions.
Examination: There will be two 24 hours Internet-based written exams during the course. One half way through the course and a second at the end of the course. The course responsible will upload the exam questions and the students must submit their individual answers within 24 hours. The workload of answering the exam questions is estimated to be eight hours for each of the two exams. All aids allowed. The two examinations count 50% each in the final marking. Internal examiner.
Competences acquired: Is able to assess the quality of ‘hard’ data on forest areas, condition and product outtake and extract the policy significance of these. Knowledge of the development and present stage of community forestry, including its theoretical foundation within common pool resource manage-ment, the importance of political, legal and institutional frameworks as well as how the concept may be applied in practice. Understanding the potentials of community forestry to serve the dual objective of rural development and forest/nature conservation. Ability to apply the theoretical framework on literature cases and in 'real life' situations. Is able to reflect on community forestry's democratic values in terms of local communities' and sub-communities'(women, low caste, land-less, etc.) rights to be directly involved in the management of local natural resources.
Course homepage: www.flec.kvl.dk/ad/ & http://kursus.kvl.dk/cf/