Who can participate?
We are looking for a broad mix of participants: men, woman, government officers, civil society members, private sector stakeholders, academic researchers, teachers etc, from a variety of sectors/interest groups, e.g. forest and water, climate and environment.
Above all, participants should be dedicated to forest and landscape restoration, and sustainable rural development.
We believe you will have a minimum of three to five years’ professional experience related to landscape restoration or other aspects on rural development, but still have at least a decade or two to give in professional activity. Ideally you will have an academic qualification, however we will consider people with relevant and extensive practical experience.
Who are eligible to apply for the programme?
The English language programme rounds are open to nationals of Vietnam, Lao PDR, Thailand, Nepal and Ethiopia. Since 2024, the programme has also been offered in French to citizens of Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Senegal, and Togo. However, as of 2026, Burkina Faso will no longer be included due to a shift in Sweden’s development cooperation priorities.
In general, the programme only accepts nationals employed (or engaged) with an organisation based in their country, or nationals working in relevant programmes with a multilateral organisation active in their country (non-UN).
Individual training with organisational benefit
The application is made by the individual, but approval is required from the applicant’s organisation. The organisation must confirm, by signing the application form, that the applicant will receive compensation for their participation in the training. In addition to the time required for the start-up meeting, final meeting, and the workshop in Sweden, the training is expected to correspond to approximately 20% of a full-time position over the course of the year.
The application should also contain an idea for a Change Project, which should be approved by the individual’s organisation. It could be an individual task, such as analysing challenges for a relevant LoCoFoRest development and providing suggestions on how to improve routines. Or it could be a collaborative task, for people from more than one organisation, addressing potential joint activities.
Language requirements
The following criteria must be met by all participants in the training:
- Good English language skills for courses delivered in English.
- Good French language skills for courses delivered in French.
Selection of participants
Merits for applicants are role in a relevant organisation as well as a relevant idea for a change project. We are looking for well-motivated applicants with experience, who have many years of professional activity in front of them. Proposing a joint change project in cooperation with another applicant from another organisation can also be of merit.
Aside from considering individual merits, we will select the 25 participants to each course to ensure there is a mix of men and woman, as well as different kinds of stakeholders in the forest landscape and different actors along the value chain preferably for each of the countries
After the training
Participants will receive a certificate when they have successfully completed the programme components up to the completion of the Change Project.
Approved participants will be invited to an alumni network supported by the training programme. We plan to include successful alumni as supervisors and mentors in later course rounds.
Photo: LoCoFoRest participants and representatives from the programme management group gathered in Ethiopia in 2023.