About the Conference

Since at least the 1970s, researchers have documented the differing opportunities for women and men in environmental and development programs. In the 1980s, “women in development specialists” in the global South focused attention on the effects of forestry decisions on women and the near invisibility of women in forest-related work and in decisions about forests. In the last two decades, efforts have been made to raise awareness and understanding of both women’s and men’s roles in forest management internationally. The renewed focus on forests with the debates on climate change makes it crucial to consider how gender is central, both to practices and policy-making in relations to forests. Programs such as REDD+ that propose to combine both development and environmental goals have important gendered implications that need to be examined closely. With experiences from the past, how can we now look ahead to shaping gender equitable environments?

In 2006, the first International Seminar and IUFRO 6.08.01 Workshop on Gender and Forestry brought together more than 60 foresters and researchers from 15 countries in Umeå, Sweden. This seminar was held to raise awareness of the present gender structures in forest ownership and forest organizations and to reveal the impact on the perception of forests and forestry in Europe, CIS and North America. In 2009, a second conference in Umeå, “Making a Difference”, sought to report on progress and backlashes to identify actions that might make a difference through research, policy, education, and networking.

In 2012, we invite researchers and practitioners to reflect on “Where Do We Stand?” on gender, forestry and environmental governance after four decades of research. We will meet at Wondo Genet Forest College, Ethiopia and invite you to make a presentation that addresses one or more of the following questions:

• What are some of the common issues and challenges related to gender and environment across different places?
• What lessons can we share, particularly between countries in the global South and the North?
• How can researchers of gender and forestry learn from gender researchers in other contexts and vice versa?
• How do concerns of feminist scholars such as intersectionality, identity, and masculinity apply to forestry?
• How can gender and forestry research focus on theory and practice? How can theory be used to inform practice and practice inform theory effectively?
• Where should messages about gender and forestry be sent? (e.g., forestry and natural resource management programs, forestry organizations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, community forest organizations, small-scale operators, public or private sector forestry companies.) What messages do we want to be heard?