A brief overview and opinion on 2nd year studies so far in Padova

Alan asked me to write something about my time here in Padova as people were asking about the different 2^nd year options, so here is my attempt! To give some context, our studies here have been going for 2 months now – we have completed two courses so far and except for some exams, are three more weeks from completing the next three (then we’re done and it is thesis time next year).  I can say that the course info on the SUTROFOR all looks up to date, save for some slight name changes, so for subject matter, there aren’t really any surprises and you can know properly beforehand what you would have the opportunity studying.  The main Professor here, Davide Pettenella also has a website (http://www.tesaf.unipd.it/pettenella/ - scroll down to SUTROFOR), where you can find more info on two of the courses.

As has apparently been said, the actual classes here are indeed “very small and focussed”.  Class size has been really small – 5 students!  For me this has positive and negative points.  I feel it would be nice to have some more students to interact with INSIDE the classroom, so there would be more backgrounds, opinions etc. to learn from, however at the same time, this means more personal attention from the teachers and I’ve really enjoyed this as I feel the teachers here are great - we’ve all had some good in-class discussions really analysing what we’re learning.  The teachers are engaging and we learn a lot by doing and we get good feedback on the numerous small assignments we do. The teachers have a lot of professional experience (not just teaching and research) to draw upon, which I particularly like, and the staff,  as well as the PhD students, come across very much as a team and the study program reflects that.  I feel the classes/topics themselves are all well integrated and the teachers and students are aware of what the others are doing/teaching, which I think has lead to a comprehensive coverage of the subject matter, with no holes in the theory or practical sides.  The whole specialisation (the arrangement of courses and the work within them) feels well planned for the learning outcomes promoted.

It’s difficult to comment on the subject matter, as whether one likes it or not will come down to individual preferences.  For what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed learning more about international trade and social/ethical management practices as I find it interesting and I feel it complements my previous learning and experience (I studied forestry for my bachelor, with lots of focus on management and policy, and studied 1^st year SUTROFOR in Copenhagen).  As for whether the course is very “desk oriented”, which was asked, I think that on average, this may potentially be the case, but I feel the various subjects also open up many field opportunities for work or research.  More than anything, it comes down to your interests and what you want to use the knowledge and methods learned for.  Looking at possible thesis topics, there are quite a few that are desk-based, analysing economic and social data and that kind of thing, however there are plenty of opportunities for some good field time in the countries where partnerships already exist, or any other of your choice and we’ve read previous theses that have done this.  To try and provide an example of both the desk and field aspects of the topics, we have a class on social marketing as applied to the forestry sector (e.g. forest certification) at the moment, and we are covering things like actual marketing of products (let’s say this is desk-based), but also stakeholder engagement (could be either), and actual processes of auditing certified forests in the field (possibly more field based).  Another example could be illegal logging, which we’ve focussed on somewhat, and is obviously dealt with internationally in various policy forums, by national governments in importing countries with trade regulations, and also in the tropical forests and communities themselves.  Personally, I’ve enjoyed this aspect, and that’s what my impression was when I chose to come here.

This is perhaps stating the obvious, but ultimately, I think the decision of 2^nd year placement should come down to what you are actually interested in academically and professionally.  Obviously I’ve only experienced two of the universities, but I think all of the options with have their strong and weaker points.  What you can gain from each, while obviously depending on the subject matter and the form and quality of delivery, will ultimately come from your own interests and what you make of the opportunities presented.  For Padova, like I said previously, the course descriptions of the ones here on the SUTROFOR website seem spot on and I’d happily send the intro slides to the courses (those giving potential thesis topics could be useful) or answer other questions.