Innovations in Training and Exchange of Standards for Wood Processing Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovations in Training and Exchange of Standards for Wood Processing

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Agriculture, forestry and fisheries; Quality Improvement Institutions and/or methods (incl. school development); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

This project aims to create the foundation for an emerging small-scale, forest-based industry in Iceland by learning from experiences of other Scandinavian partners. Education, learning, standards and certification schemes for quality assurance are the key factors for building up a successful forest-based industry. In reverse will learnings from Iceland be documented in an innovative approach and demonstrate how to initiate forestry in all its complexity from the scratch on a national level and how these findings can be transferred to third countries who face similar challenges. The Agricultural University of Iceland and the Iceland Forest Service have followed closely the forest development in Iceland over past decades and are in constant cooperation with many forest-related stakeholders. Those comprehensive activities result in the major fact that there is a very strong need to build bridges from the wood production era towards the build up of wood processing capacities in order to enhance value-added chains on a national level.

The history of forestry in Iceland is rather short since the first woods were only planted about 100 years ago. But growing timber for harvesting only began around the 1980s, when farmers started planned forestry with governmental support schemes. Today – 40 years later – these commercial timberlands have reached a scale ready for harvesting and usage but the knowledge of thinning and processing, of sawing, drying and utilizing the woods is not readily availabe on a professional level.
At the same time it has become an urgent matter to formulate and implement coordinated quality assessment guides for the main tree species used in Icelandic forestry. A broader use of Icelandic timber will lead to less import of timber for processing, which also leads to a lower carbon footprint of wood processing in Iceland. Therefore it is very important on an economical, social and environmental level to build up knowledge on sustainable use of Icelandic forests. Icelandic forestry is standing on the crossroads today. Only the development of a sustainable use and the processing of Icelandic timber resources can safeguard the establishment of a timber-related cluster in Iceland which is fostering value-added chains within the forest sector and beyond. The foundation for such a cluster formation will be the creation of faciliating factors and promoting conditions in order to enable relevant structures to emerge. The creation of wood-processing knowledge on an Iceland-specific level will be the foundation to kick off this development.
In the medium run will the creation of more and better wood processing lead to a further attraction of establishing forest in Iceland with the prospect of generating economic yield, environmental benefits and general welfare. Wider possibilities of using Icelandic quality timber will also serve to make the forest industry more sustainable. This project can therefore contribute on a fundamental level to sustainable development in Iceland and to fulfill UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Therefore a main outcome of this innovative project will be to build up wood-processing education in Iceland and furthermore transfer and adapt existing European timber standards to Icelandic circumstances in close cooperation with experienced partners from countries with a long wood-processing history (Sweden and Denmark). The excisting training and teaching materials from Denmark and Sweden will be updated and adapted to Icelandic cirumstances. All of the materials will be adjusted to digital learning principles. Transforming the learning material will be the first step during first year of the project. To receive praxis-feedback of this learning material it will be used during a 2-years-VET learners course that will start in the second year of the project. Students and teachers will review the teaching materials during their learning. These reviews will be immediately used in order to revise teaching materials on a continous level.

Further project outcome will be the revision of a curriculum that enables the transfer of Icelandic lessons learned from kickstarting commercial timberlands to third countries who are facing simular challenges.
In the year 2001 the Icelandic Forestry Service and the Agricultural University of Iceland in cooperation with other stakeholders started to accompany the growing interest of farmers for forestry by offering forest-related education programmes, called „Green forests“. This 3-year-educational-programme was a very sucess-relevant factor when it came to establish country-wide commercial timberlands over the past decades. The programme built up extensive and continuing knowledge for farmers. Today – as the forests grow up – there is a need for further knowledge and education than in the past decades – from establishing forests towards processing timber. This project aims to close this knowledge gap.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 284868 Eur

Project Coordinator

LANDBUNADARHASKOLI ISLANDS & Country: IS

Project Partners

• LINNEUNIVERSITETET
• Iceland Forest Service – Skograektin
• KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
• Tretaekniradgjof slf.