FNP-24806 People and Forest and Nature Conservation

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

Dutch

Assumed knowledge on:

FNP-11806 Forest, Nature, Society.

Contents:

Successful forest and nature management can no longer be designed or implemented without taking the relationship with broader society in consideration. Citizens expect to be involved, and policies that do not match the views of influential social groups can cause social conflicts. Meanwhile Dutch and many other European governments tend to retreat and stimulate civil society and citizens to increase their contribution. This course explores the theoretical and empirical questions of this interaction of citizens (individual or organized) with their natural environment. Special attention will be given to nature values and images, recreation, public engagement and public support, cultural values of biodiversity protection. Although the focus is on western societies, also examples and comparisons with non-western societies are made.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- understand the diverse ways in which citizens engage with forest and nature;
- explain the underlying reasons and barriers for citizen engagement;
- define strategies of engaging citizens to contribute to forest and nature conservation;
- explain theoretically the successes and failures of citizen engagement in forest and nature policy and management;
- assess the contribution and relevance of citizens to forest and nature policy and management;
- prepare, structure and give a presentation in front of an audience, using media and supportive non-verbal behaviour.

Activities:

- preparation for and attendance of lectures;
- preparation and participation in supervised tutorial classes;
- participation in and contribution to discussion during the excursion;
- working on group assignments and group presentations;
- giving of oral presentations;
- writing an individual reflection paper.

Examination:

- individual written examination (55%);
- group assignments (30%);
- presentation skills assignments (10%);
The minimum partial grade for each of the components is 5.5.

Literature:

Literature will be made available through MyPortal.