FOREST-IN : INovative and Educational INformation for the Sustainable FOREST Management by Smallholders Erasmus Project

Project Title

FOREST-IN : INovative and Educational INformation for the Sustainable FOREST Management by Smallholders

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 adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Project Summary

Sustainable development has become a global concern in the last decades. European citizens have been raised aware of global environmental issues, but have not been engaged in actively contributing to solutions through stepwise local actions. In particular, forest smallholders are not aware of their potential as active citizens and their role in the sustainability desired by modern societies. And in fact, altogether, due to the European deeply rooted forestry traditions, they could be a major force in promoting sustainability concepts in society.FOREST-IN aimed at the promotion of sustainable forest management practices through the delivery of novel learning approaches embedded in a holistic, participative and horizontal pedagogical process targeted at adult citizens that own or manage forests across Europe, but lack specific competences or guidance for performing that task properly.The project included a set of audience-appropriate intellectual outputs that have the potential to assist smallholders, but also professional forestry technicians in the decision-making regarding forest management. Material outputs thus included an initial research report, interactive IT technologies, two audience-specific training packages, a direct, easy-to-follow forest assessment tool or tutorial and, closing the project, a retrospective layman report, highlighting the project’s objectives and results. As asserted through the project forest awareness projects are not engaging to most of adults through top-down approaches. Thus FOREST-IN constituted an innovative pedagogical process, firstltly by involving the target audience all together, an audience that very rarely gets invited to the forums where the policies that most affect them , get discussed and laid out. Secondly it combined practical and theoretical approches, all fully based on participatory and shared tutoring and transferring of knowledge features.
Thus, throughout the 5 multiplier events and the 4 traininng courses that were carried out, a strong emphasis was put on field analysis and validation of teaching/learning methods, all while capacitating participants with critical thinking and wide literacy (icl. environmental) skills.The training methodology involved , at the sme level, both smallholders and technicians.
The involved audiencess keenly partucipated in all relevant activities while engaging with the projects outputs for the most effective knowledge acquiring results, imparting their favourable opinions on all the projects milestones.
Key to the overall positive outcome of the project was the make of the partnership:
– University of Aveiro (PT) was the leading partner, experienced in science communication, public engagement and sustainability issues.
– Asociación Forestal de Galicia (SP), Association Forêt Modèle de Provence (FR) and Unimadeiras (PT) integrated a large network of forest smallholders and technicians, and were able to mobilize the relevant participants in the context of fomenting Sustainable Forest Management.
– PEFC and FSC are the largest forest certification systems worldwide confering credible standards overarchingly to the project and specifically to the training courses and outputs.
– CESEFOR is a Foundation specialized in communicating the importance of forests, and are fully experienced in developing efficient communication strategies, which included imple menting the project’s IT techologies (APP and webplatform).
As a result of the multiplier events, training courses and the dissemination strategy(ies), the project was able to involve an audience much wider than the “forestry universe”. A wide network of stakeholders and further local/regional partners of each participating organization was key to the project’s goals, fostering its outreach and replication. Ultimately, the general public was naturally invited to participate, get involved, and share the project’s philosophy.The notion that environment, education and economy, and thus overall human and social well being, are all integrated and share the same roots was the central impact that FOREST-IN project aimed at achieving at all levels: local, regional, national and international. By addressing a wide range of publics, the project found itself aligned with the European’s growth strategy, focusing on inclusion, education and intelligence to promote the necessary shift towards greater adoption of the concept of sustainability. Ultimately, direct and indirect participants were able to gain key competences to embrace sustainability and align their individual expectations with nature conservation, economy and education. As the issues the consortium was able to address are global, the cumulative impact of FOREST-IN, hopefully, helped at its scale, to reate a more generalized will to shift european communities towards sustainability, empowering citizens and local actors with the needed skills to do so, principally in the forestry and sustainable forest management sectors.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 316110 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDADE DE AVEIRO & Country: PT

Project Partners

• Unimadeiras – Produção, Comércio e Exploração Florestal, S.A.
• ASOCIACION PARA LA CERTIFICACIÓN ESPAÑOLA FORESTAL – PEFC ESPAÑA
• Forêt Modèle de Provence
• Asociación Forestal de Galicia
• FUNDACION CENTRO DE SERVICIOS Y PROMOCION FORESTAL Y DE SU INDUSTRIA DE CASTILLA Y LEON
• FSC International Center GmbH