Education of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy

The Dutch Bachelor's programme Forest and Nature Management aims at the understanding and management of forest and nature areas and the societal aspects of nature. By doing so, students of this bachelor's course will be able to contribute to sustainable management, academic research  and nature conservation. The working field ranges from urban forests and floodplains in the Netherlands to tropical rain forests, savannah and tundras all over the world. FNP looks at this field from a societal perspective.

Bachelor's thesis students are welcome to do their theses at the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group. Students can choose a topic related to any of the ongoing research and research projects of FNP. For inspiration, current and future Bachelor's students can consult the list of FNP thesis topics and research projects. You are also invited to submit and discuss your own ideas. ou are also invited to submit and discuss your own ideas. The theses can be written in either Dutch or English. Make an appointment with the thesis coordinator Eugenie van Heijgen in order to prepare the start of your Bachelor's thesis on time.

FNP has a wide variety of interesting topics for thesis assignments.

The Forest and Nature Conservation Master's programme focuses on policy, sustainable management and conservation of forest and nature, i.e. understanding and predicting the effect of phenomena such as deforestation, biodiversity loss, ecotourism, timber production and human - animal interactions.

Students interested in sustainable development can also choose to join the Sustainable Development Diplomacy SDD master track.

The writing of a master's thesis is the biggest achievement of students in their academic education and it takes a prominent position within the entire master's program. After completing introductory and advanced courses in the educational programme, the master's thesis offers the challenge to set up and carry out a scientific research project in an almost fully self-responsible way.

In order to have a timely and smooth start of your master's thesis, we advise you to make an appointment for an exploratory talk with the FNP thesis coordinator Jim van Laar. For some interesting thesis topics, you can:

1. visit the yearly FNP thesis fair in February and talk to the teachers
2. link up with existing research and consult the list of topics offered by teaching staff on this website
3. speak to the teachers during courses or by e-mail and come up with your own topic or idea.

Courses given at Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group all focus on the social aspects of forest and nature. Central themes of our programme are forest governance, sustainable forestry, forest and nature policy implementation, conservation and interactions between society and nature.

FNP organizes a variety of courses for students and can be attended by students, graduates and post graduates. The FNP courses also include a capita selecta, internships and theses.  They can be followed separately or as part of an education programme. We welcome all current and future students to follow our courses. 

Students who wish to contact the course coordinators of the courses can refer to the Study Handbook.

FNP Courses

• FNP 11806 - Forest, nature and society
• FNP 21306 - Management of forest and nature organisations
• FNP 23303 - Planning in forest and nature conservation
• FNP 24806 - People and forest and nature conservation
• FNP 24306 - Governance of forest, nature and biodiversity
• FNP 30306 - Strategic planning in forest and nature conservation
• FNP 31306 - Communities, conservation and development
• FNP 31806 - Social and Political Theory for Forest and Nature Conservation Research
• FNP 32306 - Decision-Making in Forest and Nature Management: Theory and Practice
• FNP 32806 - Science and expertise in nature and environment
• FNP 50402 - Capita Selecta forest and nature conservation policy
• FNP_51306 - Anthropology of Basic Nature Skills: Combining Theory and Practice Through Relational Learning
• FNP_50401 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50402 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50403 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50404 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50405 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50406 - Capita Selecta Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_50802 - Introduction to Sustainable Development Diplomacy
• FNP_70812 - BSc Internship Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_70818 - BSC Internship Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_70424 - MSc internship forest and nature conservation policy
• FNP_79324 - MSc Research Practice Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP_80424 - MSc Thesis Forest and Nature Conservation Policy
• FNP 80436 - MSc thesis forest and nature conservation policy

Other courses in which FNP is involved

• FEM_11306 - Introduction to Forest and Nature Conservation
• ENP-39306 - Advanced International Environmental Politics
• PEN-10806 - Forest and Nature Conservation I: Introductory Field Course
• PAP 20806 - Public Administration and Environmental Law
• REG 31306 - Trends in Forest and Nature Conservation
• YMC 60809 - Academic Consultancy Training
• FEM 20909 - Forest and Nature Conservation II: Management Planning and Tools