Training in Austria’s and China’s Forestry Administration: A Comparison of Human Capital Development

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes forestry training for state employees in Austria and China from a comparative perspective, drawing on government publications and expert interviews; fieldwork was conducted between 2015 and 2016. It identifies institutional differences and analyzes how they translate into the management of HCD. The study ties in with research in the field of cadre training in China contributing with a new perspective and delivering new findings, as it inquires on the training in a specific government department, whose primary responsibility is to further educate and train its staff in the context of its policies and reform agendas.

KEYWORDS:

• Austria
• China
• forestry administration
• forestry training
• human capital development

Notes

¹ A xitong is a group of bureaucracies from the national level to the local level that implement broad tasks under party leadership (Zhou, 2003, p. 106). The xitong system is a “technology” or “mechanism of power” of the Party to exert control over the government and society. Their purpose is to enable the Party to exercise its domination over the government (Zheng & Chen, 2015, p. 68), shape, and regulate Chinese society (Zhou, 2003, p. 106).

² The training of cadres is managed by different authorities: leading cadres are managed by the party committees, non-leading cadres are under the authority of the governments personnel bureau, the responsibility of training lower level cadres resides with the personnel office of the work unit. See more in Pieke (2009a, p. 26–55).

³ First, vocational training beginning at the age of 15 (3 years) or the completion of the Vocational College of Agriculture (3 years) or 3 years working praxis plus a minimum of 120 h of training at one of the Forestal Training Institutes. All three career paths qualify for the profession as forester or lumberjack (Forstarbeiter and Forstfacharbeiter). After this basic qualification, candidates have the possibility to take the master craftsman’s examination (Forstwirtschaftsmeister). Second, a 1-year full-time study program at the Forest Technical College (minimum requirement is the completion of compulsory education). Forest assistants (Forstwart) are usually assigned operational work tasks in forest and hunting protection services, counseling services and assistant positions in smaller forest associations. Third, the completion of a senior high school specialized in forest related issues (after a period of instruction of 5 years, students graduate with a qualification for all kinds of forest-related professions and hold a general qualification for university entrance, i.e., high-school diploma), 2 years working praxis and the forest civil service examination (Staatsexamen) qualify for the position of forest managers (Förster). Forest managers can lead forest associations that manage up to 3,600 ha of forest land. Last but not least, a university degree from the University of Life Science in Vienna, 3 years of praxis and the forest civil service examination qualify for the position of higher forest manager (Forstwirt) who can lead forest associations that manage forest land over 3,600 ha.

⁴ The Chinese local state distinguishes between different layers: provincial, city, county, town, and township level (Ma, 2002). The villages are historically separated from the state and are self-administered.

⁵ The six key forest projects are The Natural Forest Protection Program, Program for Conversion of Cropland into Forests, The Sandification Control Program for the Vicinity of Beijing and Tianjin, The Three-North Shelterbelt Development Program and the Shelterbelt Development Program along the Yangtze River Basin, The Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserves Development Program, the Forest Industrial Base Development Program in Key Regions with a Focus on Fast-growing and High-yielding Timber Plantations (Zhang, 2008).

⁶ The Chinese state bureaucracy is a system of complex relationships between the vertical (tiao) and horizontal lines (kuai) of the political-administrative system. Chinese administrative units distinguish between two kinds of political relationships: leadership (lingdao) relationships imply binding orders and professional (yewu) relationships are based on nonbinding instructions. In China’s decentralized administration, leadership relationships are often with local governments at the same administrative level, as governments have the authority over budget and personnel allocations. In theory, tiao administration ensures a smooth and uniform implementation of higher level government decrees, while the kuai administration “helps to achieve a degree of independence from external influences, helps sensitivity to local conditions in the policy process, and facilitates co-ordination between functional departments” (Mertha, 2005, p. 797).

⁷ As a comparison, the Austrian National Forestry Research Academy has an annual budget of 21.6 million Euros (BFW, 2015, p. 2), its local forestry training institutions dispose of approximately 1.5 million Euros only for training measures (e-mail correspondence with Wolfgang Jirikowski, director of Forestry Training Institute Ort/Gmunden).

⁸ In Fujian, the Department of Forestry sets the 31 December as deadline (“Fujian Provincial Department of Forestry Training Management Provisional Methods,” 2014).

⁹ The author would like to thank Le Weijing from University of Duisburg-Essen for this valuable comment.