Green dreams and workforce realities

The purpose of the anthology has been to gather research from different fields and perspectives, on the realities of the workforce in Swedish forests and forest industry. During the last few years, this workforce has undergone not only a process of automation but also of streamlining. Despite the important role that forestry continues to play in Sweden, the research on work and work life in the forest is very limited. Especially research focusing on the conditions of workers. This anthology aims to make research on this topic more broadly available, and point out this important theme.

Work life conditions are especially important considering the position that forestry has taken in the green transition, as the social aspects of sustainability are typically overlooked in favour of ecology and economy. The anthology looks to explore the green dreams part of both the forest as a climate mitigator and the forest as a provider of products and raw materials that are seeing an increase in demand. How can we balance these things within an industry that is already, as pointed out by some of the writers, struggling to balance work conditions and an increasing demand for labour?

Nearly all writers also agree that, in a time of change for the forest industry, we need more research to better understand what is happening and will continue to happen.