Forest Certification: Social, Political,
 and Economic Dimensions

Block 519c, January 12-16, 2003
Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Science
Institute of Forestry Economics
University of Freiburg
Prof. Errol Meidinger
eemeid@buffalo.edu or e.meidinger@ife.uni-freiburg.de
 

Introduction. Forest certification is often considered from a technical perspective – what are the forest management requirements for certification, how do they differ from one program to another, who is qualified to serve as a certifier? In practice, however, many of the most contentious issues surrounding forest certification are social ones: what social values are promoted, how are the rights and duties of forest stakeholders altered, how is public governance affected? Indeed, many supposedly technical questions turn out to be social questions at base. Hence, the purpose of this course is to provide a cogent introduction to the social, political and socio-economic issues surrounding forest certification. Although it serves as an introduction to these issues, however, it is not an introduction to forest certification per se. Students taking it should either already be generally familiar with forest certification or become familiar with it in advance of the course.

Objectives. Students completing the course will gain:

• Knowledge of the main social,  political and socio-economic issues surrounding forest certification.

• Ability to analyze and discuss the social, political and socio-economic dimensions of forest certification.

• Understanding of which questions need further research, and how they could be researched, in order to develop an adequate understanding of forest certification.

Method. This class will operate in a seminar rather than a lecture format. This means that interaction of the participants will be key. Members will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and to contribute proactively to them. For the discussions to be productive, students must have read the assigned texts before the class session in which they are discussed. The class will be conducted in English, but the instructor will take care to ensure that all students can understand the discussion as it proceeds.

Requirements. Students will be expected to: 

• Complete required readings prior to class sessions in which they are discussed

• Participate actively in class discussions

• Attend all classes (barring an emergency)

• Study one of the class readings in depth and make a short seminar presentation discussing key conclusions or issues needing further examination. The goal of the presentation will be to clarify central issues in the reading and to pose questions that will stimulate class discussion. The presentation will be accompanied by a short written discussion (1 to 3 pages) of one or more key points or propositions from the reading together with thoughtful reflections on it. These reflections can vary from explaining why the points discussed are important to understanding forest certification to why they are inadequate or misguided. Readings will be matched with individual students on the first day of class. The written product will be reviewed primarily for content, rather than for the quality of its English.

Readings. Readings are drawn directly from a recently published book (Meidinger, Elliott and Oesten, Social and Political Dimensions of Forest Certification, 2003). They may be printed out directly from .pdf files linked to the schedule below or may be purchased from the Sekretariat of the Institute for Forestry Economics. Again, it is essential to complete the readings prior to the class. 

Evaluation. Evaluation will be based equally on each individual's presentation, written discussion of the reading, and participation in the class. Effective participation involves understanding and helping to clarify the readings, offering critical reflections on them, and listening and responding to the comments of others. 

Schedule

Additional Resources. Many additional sources of information on forest certification exist both in print and on the world wide web. Below are some www sites that the instructors have found particularly useful sources of information on the subject. 

• Steven Bass, Introducing Forest Certification, 1997, IIED 
• European Forestry Institute Certification Information Service
• Nicole Freris and Klemens Laschefsky, Myths of Certification
• FSC: http://www.fscoax.org/ 
• LEI: http://www.lei.or.id/
• PEFC: http://www.pefc.org/
• SFI: http://www.afandpa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Environment_and_Recycling/SFI/SFI.htm 

Discussion Groups

Bass
·        Irimie
·        Schneider

Thornber
·        Benneter
·        Gaddess
·        Lang
·        Schultze
·        Sohn
·        Zahn  

Meidinger
·        Gilbert
·        Ilzhöfer
·        Schöneborn
·        Fischbach
·        Wilkes

Markopoulos
·        Deutschlander-Woolff
·        Hahn
·        Prakash

Finger-Stich
·        Beck
·        Hamman-Kloss
·        Jenne
·        Mohammed
·        Vetter

 Haufler
·        Opferkuch
·        Ruckteschell
·        Schiller
·        Stürmer