Innovation and sustainability of forestry in Central-Eastern Europe: challenges and perspektives
Abstract
Problem situation: The main problem situation underlying the project concerns the transformation of the economic system in former socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe from command to market econo-mies, a profound “institutional innovation", which also massively concerns the forestry sector in these countries. A key step to reform to a market economy was the restitution of formerly private forests and the introduction of market-based economic structures and processes to the state forest management ("privatization"). The strategies used in the CEE countries in this regard are very di-verse. Some states have completed these changes very quickly, others more slowly. Also, the legal, political, institutional, economic and social conditions of forest management by state forest admini-strations and private forest owners are very different, each leading to different problems perceptions and solutions by the administration on how to deal with these problems to ensure the sustainable development and use of one of the central natural resources of these countries. Research questions: The privatization process of forest management over the past ten years in the states of Central and Eastern Europe raises a number of important questions: • Which privatization models have been applied in different countries, and to what extent can economic theories of privatization explain these approaches to privatization? • How far has the process of privatization developed up to now? • What strategies have been applied in the state forestry administrations in response to this profound "institutional innovation”, in particular as regards: o the transition of administrative structures and management procedures? o the technical support of new private owners? o the political representation of the new private owners? o the control and administrative co-ordination of formally separate state forests enter-prises? o the monitoring of the sustainability of forest management? • Which economic, political, environmental and social effects of privatization can be docu-mented, and how do these correspond to the expectations from theories of privatization? • What are the main difficulties and challenges arising from the results of the privatization of forest management and its verifiable effects, and which explanations and solutions does the theory of privatization offer? • What are the perspectives regarding further changes arising from the themes "climate change", "energy supply", "economic and social-economic change", and how are these per-ceived and taken up by the main actors? Project goal: The aim of the project is the comparative analysis of strategies and the implementation of the priva-tization of forest management in the CEE countries, especially the strategies of the "institutional innovations" in the administration of private and state forest enterprises, and the verifiable eco-nomic, political, environmental and social effects of privatization in the forest sector. At the same time, the project aims to build up a solid knowledge base for further comparative studies on specific topics in the future.
Publikationen
Project staff
Gerhard Weiß
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Gerhard Weiß
gerhard.weiss@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-73217
Project Leader
01.01.2009 - 30.06.2011