The European Commission has awarded a total of 4,632,000 euros in funding to the Erasmus+ Mundus Joint Masters Programme in European Forestry, coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland.
The Master of Science in European Forestry (MSc EF) is one of the five oldest Erasmus Mundus programmes still running today. It is a two-year MSc programme organised jointly by a Consortium of seven top-level European universities. The aim of the programme is to prepare professionals to tackle the four Grand Challenges in forestry: 1) Climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disturbances, 2) Lack of biomass for the bioeconomy industry and mitigating CO2 emissions, 3) Declining biodiversity and conversion of forest land to other land uses, and 4) Increasing societal demand for non-market ecosystem services. The programme will provide students with in-depth knowledge of the "modernised" forest management practices.
MSc EF graduates will be awarded a joint or a double degree, depending on their host university in the second year. Intensive collaboration and networking with potential employers ensures high graduate employability worldwide. Typically, 40% of graduates are employed in industry and 60% in the public sector.
MSc EF is one of the first EMJMD programmes that has been accredited according to the European approach for quality assurance of the joint programmes. In MSc EF, seven European top-class forestry universities collaborate intensively to offer joint study modules in addition to their existing curricula. The MSc EF Consortium consists of the following institutions:
- University of Eastern Finland (coordinator), Finland
- AgroParisTech, France
- University of Freiburg, Germany
- University of Lleida, Spain
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria
- Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania
- Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
