Euroforester MSc with a major in Forest Science

Forestry is changing quickly. Euroforester is a global education environment where students from around the world meet, share knowledge and discuss differences in forestry and culture. Students are prepared to work in an international environment with broad perspectives on issues in forestry and beyond. 

Euroforester is an MSc programme at SLU's Alnarp campus focusing on forests and forestry in the Baltic Sea region and central Europe. The education is targeted to an international student audience and delivered by a diverse teacher team. The programme integrates many subjects giving students an in-depth knowledge and transferrable skills, preparing them for a career in the international forest sector. 

While it focuses on the Baltic and central Europe, the programme addresses issues of worldwide importance, making it relevant to students everywhere. Because forest management has changed fundamentally in recent years, instruction takes a holistic view, much wider than mere production and profit. 

The Euroforester programme has been developed in cooperation between 14 forest faculties in Europe. With guidance provided by an international research and teaching team, Euroforester courses include numerous study trips in Sweden and abroad. 

As shown by our graduate surveys, Euroforester graduates are competitive in the job market. After graduation you will have the knowledge and skills for variety of jobs such as specialist or advisor in a governmental authority, municipality or forestry company, or to proceed with an academic career as PhD student.

Euroforester focuses on sustainable forestry in the Baltic Sea region – the hub of European forest resources. The natural conditions around the Baltic Sea region are similar, however national forestry practices and traditions vary considerably. Hence, this provides an excellent setting for international studies in forest management. In addition, students also form their own international network with their peers and the international teaching team, further aiding their acquisition of up-to-date knowledge and wide perspective.

The programme starts with a one-year course package focusing on silviculture, ecology, planning and policy.

The first course focuses on conifer-dominated forestry and examines the influence of silviculture on forest development, in-depth at stand level.

The second course addresses the principles and practices of sustainable forest management. Students prepare long-term forest management plans for a large estate in the region.

The third course addresses forest policy at the regional, national, and global level. A great deal of attention is given to comparative policy analyses between the home countries of the participating students.

The fourth course studies the ecology and usage of broadleaved forests. The impact of modern forestry on biodiversity is discussed together with strategies for preserving a rich flora and fauna within production forests. 

During the second year, students work on their Master’s dissertation and will take elective courses at partner faculties. Students based at Campus Alnarp can specialise in advanced silviculture in temporal and in tropical forests. In many cases, the Master’s dissertation is conducted in co-operation with other faculties, with several international supervisors.

Visit the student pages to find out more and read the syllabus.

Euroforester graduates are very competitive in the job market. Within a few years of graduation many are already employed in important positions with a variety of organisations, ranging from the forest owner associations in Sweden, to Greenpeace in Russia, to multinational companies operating worldwide. Euroforesters actively maintain their international network of peers through graduate conferences held every 3 years that rotate among the participating countries.