European Forestry Field School - Wales, Sweden, Finland
FRST 449C | 3 Credits
This course is led by Sheri Andrews-Key & Jorma Neuvonen, Faculty of Forestry
- Course dates: May 6 – May 24, 2024
- Travel dates: TBD
- Format: In-person
- Locations visited: Bangor (Wales), Umea (Sweden), Joensuu (Finland)
- Approximate program fee: $5000 (Go Global Fee, tuition and flights are not included) Eligible students will have 50% - 100% of program fees and flights costs covered. More info below.
- Funding available (click through to learn more about each award):
- Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) Award
- Go Global Award
- This award combines with the GSO Award. Students not selected for GSO will receive this award only.
- Global Pathfinder Award
- Recipients of this award will not qualify for the $1000 Go Global Award or GSO
Forests provide millions of jobs and billions of dollars’ worth of employment income, tax revenue, and economic activity world-wide. In addition, they provide a broad range of ecosystem services including water, recreation, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration. All of these benefits depend on healthy forests, which are threatened by global problems including climate change, biodiversity loss, and forest conversion. We increasingly recognize that forests, and the broader environment that includes them, must be managed in a sustainable and globally responsible way. However, management approaches employed around the world reflect cultural differences and different historic contexts. Solving global environmental problems in a local context requires efforts from forest and environmental managers educated to have both a global perspective and multi-cultural awareness. During the course we will explore forest management practices, conservation and forest utilization issues in Wales, Sweden and Finland and analyze why they may differ with Canadian and BC forest and conservation
General Global Seminar requirements
To participate in a Global Seminar, students must:
- Be in good-standing in their faculty (as defined by home faculty)
- In the year leading up to the Global Seminar, have full-time student status (as defined by home faculty)
- Have completed 2nd year requirements before the start of the program (i.e. eligible for 3rd or 4th year standing)
- Have at least a 70% academic average in your last full-time academic session before applying
- Maintain a 70% academic average leading up to the program
- Meet any program specific requirements listed below including pre-requisites before participating
Program-specific requirements
Students from all faculties are able to apply
Final selection will be done by the lead faculty program directors. Spots in the program may be limited.
Students who wish to participate in the summer after graduating may be eligible on a case-by-case basis.
In this immersive field course, students will have the opportunity to meet with government officials, industry forest managers, researchers, NGO professionals and private forest owners, all of whom play a role in forest management and conservation initiatives and practices. In most days we will be in the field exploring and analyzing various forest management activities and approaches. By employing their interviewing skills, students can learn how to engage in a professional manner with stakeholders to find solutions and discuss challenges. The program is organized in collaboration with the UBC Faculty of Forestry partner universities in the destination countries: Bangor University in Wales, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and the University of Eastern Finland.
During the program we will be staying in small hotels and guest houses. In each location we will stay in one hotel/guesthouse and do day trips from there. The accommodation is in double occupancy rooms (2 students per room)
Approximate program fees: $5000.00*
*The final fee depends on the number of students in the program. All Global Seminars only run if there is a minimum number of students enrolled.
Included:
- Accommodation
- Program- related travel in-country; (e.g. buses)
- Excursions and entrance fees
- Breakfasts, some group lunches and dinners
- On-site guest lectures
Not Included:
- Go Global Fee ($415)
- Flights
- UBC tuition for credits
- Visa/country entrance fees
- Health or travel insurance
- Most lunches and dinners
- Personal spending money/incidentals*
*Some examples of personal costs are: mobile communication, personal transportation that is not related to the learning outcomes of the program, additional meals that are not already identified as part of the Program Fee, immunizations, Visas, etc.
This program is supported generously by Global Skills Opportunity (GSO) funding from the Canadian Government to support eligible students participating in this program.
Funding for this program is open to undergraduate students who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Indigenous students, and those who are low-income or have a disability, are eligible for an award to cover the full cost of participating in the program. Other Canadian students are eligible for an award covering about 50% of the cost of participating.
Up to 6 students who are low-income, have a disability or are Indigenous will receive a GSO award of $7200 and a $1000 Go Global Award to cover the program fee and related costs.
Up to 9 students will be selected for partial program funding and will receive a GSO award of $3000 and a $1000 Go Global Award.
International students and graduate students are unfortunately not eligible for GSO funding. International students and graduate students selected for this program will receive a Go Global Award of $1000.
See more details on UBC Go Global’s Awards.