Vilis Brukas, professor of forest planning

Last changed: 08 November 2023

Vilis Brukas is professor of forest planning since 1 March 2021. His inauguration lecture has the title "Forest policy and planning – meeting societal challenges in the times of change".

There are great national differences in the way forests are governed, making forest policy an exciting area for comparative analyses. Vilis Brukas researches a variety of forest policy issues, and has previously investigated the instrumentation of forest policies and the interface between policy and planning in several European countries. He currently leads a large Swedish project examining forest owners’ preferences and knowledge acquisition. This project also develops advisory services to promote more diversified forest management, and pilots novel forest management plans that can better accommodate owners’ needs and landscape perspective in planning.

Practical application of forest policy requires an understanding of local and national contexts, as well as input from both researchers and practitioners – something that Vilis Brukas took note of as coordinator of the EU Horizon project ALTERFOR. Different ways of managing a profitable but highly fire-sensitive eucalyptus plantation in Vale do Sousa in Portugal are discussed here. Photo: Henning Arnecke

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