Social sustainability – Forest projects for the integration of marginal groups

The connection between the forest and the social sector is dealt with here. This paper tries to answer the question of how the forestry sector may contribute to social integration of marginal groups. The research project concentrates on the following urban areas in Germany: Göttingen, Kassel, Freiburg i.B., Frankfurt a.M. and Hamburg. In these urban centres the forest administration is able to contribute to the social integration of marginal groups. The research project identifies activities with the aim of integration, like installation of meeting points, working-projects for unemployed and focuses on the participation of forest administrations and their cooperation with other institutions. The theoretical background is the ‘liberal model of social integration’ [Fuchs, D., 1999. Soziale Integration und politische Institutionen in modernen Gesellschaften. In: Friedrichs, J., Jagodzinski, W. (Eds.), Soziale Integration. Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH, Opladen/Wiesbaden, pp. 146–178] where social integration based on the ‘solidarity with the others’ and the ‘tolerance of the others’ is seen as an acting process. Result of the analysis of the expert interviews with the different institutions shows that there is a high potential for integration located in the forest and it could arise to a new working field for the forest administration which need to be an active partner in the cooperation process. An additional result is that up to now the forest administration is not able to make new financial resources accessible by social integration.