Forests, trees, and forested lands are claimed for many purposes. They provide materials such as timber, pulp, and non-timber products; but also carbon, biodiversity, soil and water protection incl. peatlands; as well as energy and rural development. They provide space for recreation, eco-tourism and socio-cultural and spiritual values in the global North and South alike. Many of these interests are interconnected, and they entail critical cross-sectoral and transboundary interdependencies. In these highly contested and connected spaces with a myriad of powerful (and less powerful) interests at play, policies related to forests and forest lands shape and are shaped by the outcomes of actors’ negotiations and impositions of their interests. These interests reflect underlying institutional histories, discourses, and information at various levels, domestically, regionally, and internationally.
Over the past decade, critical political economy and ecology perspectives have contributed to our understanding of forest policy, decision making and implementation processes and practice, and its implications for people (including historically underrepresented groups, women, and youth) and planet.
This call is linked to the International Forest Policy Meeting (IFPM), a biennial event addressing forest and forest-related issues from a social science perspective and bringing together scholars from Europe and beyond. The latest iteration, the IFPM5, took place in Helsinki in April 2024, and highlighted explicitly questions of power and justice.
We encourage contributions from the Global North and South that present critical global political economy and political ecology analysis and help us to advance the emerging field of International Forest Policy by unpacking the underlying power relations that shape policy, practice, and the oftentimes unjust outcomes in a political forest.
Submission window opens the 1. October 2024, Submission deadline: 15 March 2025
Authors can submit manuscripts for the Special Issue using Editorial Manager, the online submission system for Forest Policy and Economics and follow the procedures for manuscript submission. When prompted for 'Select Article Type' you can select our Special Issue ‘A Political Forest’.
Submission Entrance: Editorial Manager®
Guest Editors
Dr. Maria Brockhaus
Dr Constance L. McDermott
Dr Irmeli Mustalahti
Alizée Ville
Forests Monitor is pleased to announce a forthcoming Special Issue (SI) dedicated to advancing the frontiers of forest policy science. This initiative originates from the International Forest Policy Meeting (IFPM), a biennial event addressing forest and forest-related issues from a social science perspective and bringing together scholars from Europe and beyond. This SI is linked to the IFPM5 that took place in Helsinki in April 2024, and focuses on contributions relevant to the specific topic of the conference and selected themes as outlined below.
Forests, trees, and forested lands are claimed for many purposes. They provide for materials such as timber, pulp, non-timber products but also for carbon, for biodiversity, for soil and water protection as well as for energy and rural development and they provide space for recreation, eco-tourism, and spiritual values in the global North and South alike. Many of these interests are interconnected, and they entail critical cross-sectoral and transboundary interdependencies. In these highly contested and connected spaces with a myriad of more or less powerful interests at play, policies related to forests and forest lands
shape and are shaped by the outcomes of actors’ interest negotiations, and the underlying institutional histories, discourses and information - domestically, regionally (e.g. the EU), and internationally.
The primary goal of this Special Issue is to deepen the understanding of the multifaceted nature of political forests, and political forestry, examining different issues of forest governance, and generating insights on the future of forests in Europe, including but not limited to:
We encourage contributions that present either comparative analysis or in-depth case studies and help us to advance the emerging field of International Forest Policy by unpacking and critically examining forest policy, decision making and implementation processes and practice, assessing implications of policy and
practice, and providing foresights into the future for forests, people, and planet.
Authors are invited to submit original research articles, reviews, and case studies that align with the themes outlined below. Submissions should adhere to the Journal's guidelines and will undergo a rigorous double- blind peer-review process. The deadline for manuscript submissions is March 15, 2025.
To submit papers to this Special Issue, click “Make a Submission” button at the Forests Monitor homepage (https://forestsmonitor.com/ or direct link HERE), and in step 1, under the Section selection in the dropdown list, select “Special Issue: Political forests of Europe”
Dr. Maria Brockhaus (maria.brockhaus@helsinki.fi) Dr. Vilis Brukas (vilis.brukas@slu.se)
Dr. Ayonghe Nebasifu (akonwi.ayonghe@helsinki.fi) Niina Pietarinen (niina.pietarinen@helsinki.fi)
Or for technical questions regarding submissions
Rafal Chudy (rafal@forestsmonitor.com)