WISO002366 Forests and Nature in Corporate Sustainability

Type
course with continuous assessment
Semester hours
1
Lecturer (assistant)
Zivojinovic, Ivana
Organisation
Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy
Offered in
Wintersemester 2026/27
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

This seminar examines how forests and nature are being incorporated into corporate sustainability strategy, governance, and accountability. As deforestation, biodiversity loss, and land-use change move to the center of climate and corporate-responsibility agendas, companies face growing pressure to make and prove commitments on forests and nature. The course critically assesses whether these commitments deliver real outcomes or function as symbolic legitimation, drawing throughout on the distinction between symbolic and substantive corporate action.
The seminar is reading-based and student-led, delivered as a block course over three days of four hours each (12 hours total). Each day comprises two reading-led blocks. For each block, a rotating discussion lead opens with a short critical synthesis of the assigned readings and facilitates debate, while the Professor acts as moderator and discussant.
Day 1 addresses why forests and nature have entered the corporate agenda (the symbolic-versus-substantive distinction and greenwashing) and deforestation in commodity supply chains. Day 2 examines governance instruments: certification and private governance (FSC, RSPO) and smallholder inclusion, followed by forest carbon, offsets, transparency, and greenwashing. Day 3 turns to regulation versus voluntary action—the EU Deforestation Regulation and agricultural subsidies, including a mini teaching case—and concludes with justice, Indigenous land rights and tenure, biodiversity, and emerging research frontiers.
Readings combine peer-reviewed research with practitioner-facing pieces, connecting corporate practice to debates on governance, regulation, and environmental justice.
Previous knowledge expected

No specific prior knowledge is required. The seminar is designed for master's and doctoral students with an interest in sustainability, environmental governance, business, or forest and natural-resource sciences. Basic familiarity with corporate sustainability concepts is helpful but not essential. Students should be willing to read and critically discuss academic and practitioner articles in English, and to actively participate in and lead discussion. Students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds including business management, environmental sciences, policy, economics, forestry are welcome, and the interdisciplinary mix is intended to enrich debate.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
•Explain how and why forests and nature have become central to corporate sustainability and climate agendas.
•Critically distinguish symbolic from substantive corporate action and identify greenwashing risks in forest- and nature-related claims.
•Assess the effectiveness and limitations of key governance instruments: deforestation-free supply-chain commitments, voluntary certification schemes, forest carbon offsets, and mandatory regulation such as the EU Deforestation Regulation.
•Evaluate empirical evidence from peer-reviewed literature and weigh competing findings.
•Analyze equity and justice dimensions, including impacts on smallholders, Indigenous peoples, and local communities, and the role of secure land tenure.
•Facilitate scholarly discussion, synthesize readings, and formulate researchable questions at the business–nature interface.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.