Unpacking inequality in the global forest sector – learning from the Congo Basin (MOOC)

Course dates

1 February 2027 – 31 July 2027

Registration period

1 January 2027 – 31 January 2027

Coordinating university

University of Helsinki

Coordinators

Maria Brochaus

Credits

5 ECTS

Course dates: Spring 2027 (TBC)
Registration dates: TBC
Please note that the registration takes place through your own university SISU/Peppi System.
Coordinating university: University of Helsinki
Course code on Sisu: FOR-114
Responsible teacher: Maria Brockhaus (if.iknisleh@suahkcorb.airam)
Credits: 5 ECTS

Course summary:
Forests and forestlands are supposed to serve a multitude of global and domestic interests, including development, climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. All these interests have explicit assumptions in common over their positive contribution to the economic wellbeing and social equality of society. However, who – and whose society – benefits from ongoing deforestation and forest concessions in the Global South, specifically in the Congo Basin (Cameroon and DRC), China, and the former colonial empires in Europe? The aim of this course is to unpack social inequalities and their (re)production embedded in the politics of (forest) land use and related trade and investment flows, to provide tools and methods to analyse these patterns, and to indicate pathways how to break with them. The case studies provided focus on the analysis of global and historic data, legal and institutional frameworks, discursive practices, and power relations.

Learning outcomes:

• To gain a holistic understanding of social inequalities and their (re)production embedded in the politics of (forest) land use and related trade and investment flows in the Global South

• To have available and apply frameworks, tools and methods to analyse the (re)production of inequality within and across the forest sector in the Congo Basin, the former colonial powers from the EU and China.

• To assess underlying politics and power and implications for social and environmental justice, and to understand sustainability transitions and pathways how to break with them.

Learning methods:

The course is based on multimedia content, including text-based learning materials, video lectures, quizzes, learning reflections and peer evaluation.

Completion methods:

To complete the course, students must successfully complete all the course quizzes and engage in the reflections.

Study materials:

The course is organized in 3 main parts: Introduction, case study lectures (organised in three different segments), and conclusion. In the case study part, the first segment explores how to define inequality in the forest sector and how inequality is produced (focusing on domestic processes of access and bureaucracy). This is followed by a second segment giving insights in how inequality is at risk of being reproduced in international agreements, e.g. related to trade and climate change. The final segment ties these different aspects together in a comparative analysis. Each of these different segments consist of a series of lectures, and provides the following learning material:

• Lectures and pre-reading material: for each lecture in the introduction, conclusion and those illustrating the issue through case studies of the course there will be pre-reading of selected paper(s)

• followed each by a quiz,

• and a final reflection element that allows participants to understand their learning progress and which is supported through a set of guiding questions

Assessment:

The students will be assessed based on the tools in the online learning platform.

Preliminary course timetable:
Week 1: Introduction and becoming familiar with the reading assignments
Week 2: Case study, part 1/3
Week 3: Case study, part 2/3
Week 4: Case Study, part 3/3
Week 5: Conclusions
Week 6: Final reflections

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