Erasmus Mundus Master Global Forestry (GloFor)

Why global forestry?

Deforestation and forest degradation account for 10-15% of the world’s greenhouse gas emission, contribute massively to the global loss of biodiversity, and undermine the livelihoods of millions of people who depend heavily on forests and the uncultivated environment for their livelihoods.

These processes predominantly take place in middle and low-income countries in the Global South. However, the causes of deforestation and forest degradation are complex and linked to climate change, poverty and profit-driven agricultural expansion, unsustainable logging, unjust distributions of forest and land rights, and the lack of effective mechanisms to conserve nature without undermining rural livelihoods.

On the other hand, forest resources hold great potential. Indeed, a global transformation towards an equitable and green economy will not be possible unless forests in medium and low-income countries come under sustainable forms of utilisation and protection. 

The Global Forestry consortium

A consortium of five European Universities with extensive experience in global forestry offers the programme:

• Czech University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Prague (Czech Republic)
• Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (AgroParisTech), Montpellier and Kourou campuses (France)
• Technische Universität, Dresden, Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products, (Germany)
• University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics (Denmark)
• University of Padua, School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (Italy)

The GloFor Consortium also includes associate Partners, among which the following academic Universitie in the Global South:

• Institute of Forestry at Tribhuvan University in Nepal
• Faculty of Forestry at the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania
• The Resource and Environmental Geography Working Group at the University of Bamenda, Cameroon
• Hawassa University Wondo Genet, Ethiopia
• The Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales-LISEA, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The GloFor Universities all have significant experience in research-based teaching on global forestry. The GloFor Programme thus provides you with a single entry point to top-level and up-to-date teaching.

Programme structure

Students get a thorough introduction to forestry’s local and global role in middle and low-income countries during their first year. All students complete their first semester in Copenhagen, where faculty from all GloFor Universities join the teaching activities. During February, the first year, all students and one teacher from each GloFor University participate in a joint field course in a middle or low-income country. Then, students move to either Dresden or Padua to complete their first year.

In their second year, students pursue a particular line of specialisation in any one of the five GloFor Universities:

• Livelihoods and Governance (Copenhagen)
• Management and Policy (Dresden)
• Tropical Forest Ecology (Kourou & Montpellier)
• Social and Environmental Responsibility (Padua)
• Agroforestry Systems (Prague)

Mobility rules

Experience the cultural and geographical diversity of the world!
The Global Forestry programme will take you to different European countries and to the global South.

First year

The first semester of the GloFor programme is common and takes place at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

The second semester is spent either

• at the University of Padua in Italy
• at the University of Dresden in Germany.

During this semester all students follow the joint three-week Global Forestry field course in a country of the global South.

Second year

The second-year specialisation must be completed at one of the five European universities in the programme:

• Copenhagen (Denmark): Livelihoods and Governance
• Dresden (Germany): Management and Policy
• Kourou & Montpellier (French Guiana & mainland France): Tropical Forest Ecology
• Padua (Italy): Social and Environmental Responsibility
• Prague (Czech Republic): Agroforestry Systems and Biodiversity

The specialisation year includes a thesis project that includes data collection in a country of the global South.

Rules for Erasmus Mundus scholarship holders

Erasmus Mundus Scholarship holders must spend at least two semesters (totalling one year) in at least two different countries not being the country of residence at the time of enrolment. This implies that if you are a scholarship holder residing in Germany for example at the time of enrolment, you must choose study track as follows:

• Copenhagen – Padua – Copenhagen/Dresden/Kourou&Montpellier/Padua/Prague or
• Copenhagen – Dresden – Kourou&Montpellier/Prague/Padua.

Application

The applications for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Global Forestry are now open!

• Non-EU, non-EEA and non-Swiss citizens: 15 November 2022 to 15 January 2023
• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: 16 January to 1 March 2023 (If you wish to come into consideration for the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship your deadline to upload your passport copy is 15 January 2023, CET.)