Results of the Global Forest Education Project

Presentation of the results of the Global Forest Education project in XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, South Korea, May 2-6, 2022

XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, South Korea, May 2-6, 2022

Originally scheduled to take place in 2021, the 15th World Forestry Congress under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was postponed due to the COVID pandemic and was held in Seoul, South Korea, from 2 to 6 May 2022. Participants represented both public and private sectors, governments and public agencies, academic and research institutions, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community and Indigenous organizations.

The main results of the Assessment Global Forest Education project were presented by Dr. Mika Rekola in a session “Harnessing the full potential of tertiary forest education globally”.  As overall, the study on forestry education found gaps in higher forestry education. The diversity of forest education across regions was recognised as well as the need to include more social issues and traditional knowledge in forestry curricula.  Furthermore, the importance to discuss about how to improve gender and minority equality in forestry education became evident based on the results of the study. University students need also more field education and practical training and internships, and job opportunities.

The outcomes of the study imply that more emphasis should be put on pedagogical training of educators in higher forestry education to improve their teaching skills both in face-to-face situations as in online and hybrid teaching.

FAO as a leading partner is going to publish the final synthesis of the results of the Global Forest Education project. Regional reports are already available at FAO’s website https://www.fao.org/forestry/forest-education/en/

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