On 17-18 September 2018 the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are hosting a workshop on Green Forest Jobs: Exploring opportunities and increasing the capacity of UNECE member States in Geneva, Switzerland.
Scope and Objectives
Despite multiple forest functions, the forest sector is not commonly perceived as a sector creating a variety of jobs. However, although the decline in the number of forest workers over the past several decades is a fact, the growing demand for sustainable products and ecosystem services has driven an increase in new tasks and occupations associated with forests. The creation of new forest jobs needs, therefore, to be placed in the context of all forest values, which embrace a broad range of tasks and functions. For instance, the increase in environmental and health awareness brings opportunities for developing new jobs beyond forest operations, traditionally associated with forest sector jobs. At the same time, it is important to consider how to make new forest jobs safe, well paid and more attractive to women and young workers in order to ensure the resilience and flexibility of working teams and promote the development of new occupations. In addition, a better understanding of the needs for skills development related to these new jobs is crucial.
Workshop
The Workshop is addressed to experts from the forest sector, as well as to those working in employment, education and forest-related social and economic areas. Participants will be invited to contribute to the discussion by showcasing challenges and good practices from their own experience.
The Workshop will feature:
- Presentations on green forest jobs, related concepts and trends.
- Identification of forest-related activities with the highest potential for the creation of green forest jobs.
- Focused discussions on job opportunities in health, wellbeing and forest recreation; and forest ecosystem management sectors.
- Detailed review of the content of the draft Guidelines for Green Forest Jobs.