BACKGROUND

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.

AIM AND SCOPE

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:

• Forest governance in the EU as a whole and in nation states.
• Knowledge, data, and evidence in a political forest.
• (Forest) land use, forest owners, and land conflicts.
• Inequality, intersectionality & gender in forest policy and practice.

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.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

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”.

CONTACT TO GUEST EDITORS

Dr. Maria Brockhaus ([email protected])
Dr. Vilis Brukas ([email protected])
Dr. Ayonghe Nebasifu ([email protected])
Niina Pietarinen ([email protected])

or for technical questions regarding submissions, Rafal Chudy ([email protected])

Please feel free to disseminate this announcement to any colleagues who might be interested.
Yours sincerely,
Maria Brockhaus, Vilis Brukas, Ayonghe Nebasifu, Niina Pietarinen
The Guest Editors