Dear members of the community,
We would like to introduce you and at the same time inform you about our next activity within our involvement in the European SMURF Project and its policies. Our activity within the SMURF Project was a meeting of our members and the public in our forest stands – in the forest that we manage for the purpose of introducing and at the same time getting acquainted with the concept of Forest Pedagogy.
We would like to introduce you to what is hidden under the term Forest Pedagogy:
- is a qualified environmental education focused on the forest
- focuses on all aspects of sustainability – social, environmental and economic
- promotes understanding, interactions and connections between people and the environment in the context of sustainable development
- is based on knowledge about forest ecosystems and experience in sustainable development forestry
- promotes the understanding, use and application of the concept of sustainable development through the example of sustainable forestry
- requires a holistic approach and takes into account the global context
- contributes to education for sustainable development (EU Strategy) and cooperates with other partners involved in environmental education or education for sustainable development
- Requires active learning methods and collaborative approaches, honors forests, promotes and presents them as excellent and healthy places („classrooms“) for outdoor education
We present to you the goals of forest pedagogy
Educational goals
- development of key competencies – responsibility, reliability, thinking and learning, independence and performance, ability to solve problems, creativity, communication skills,
- strengthening values such as respect and responsibility for nature and the environment, tolerance, solidarity between generations,
- social values, relationships with others, cooperation, long-term action and global thinking,
- active use of free time by discovering and learning in nature.
Social, economic goals and goals for sustainable forest management
- building the right value orientation, emotional relationship and attitudes of the public towards forests and encouraging responsible and careful action in everyday situations,
- shaping the relationship to the environment, nature, forest, creating a sense of co-responsibility for the quality of the environment,
- strengthening the added value to rural development (tourism, job opportunities), increasing the diversification of activities in rural areas,
- strengthening cooperation between rural and urban populations, renewing the relationship to the countryside and land, clarifying the principles of sustainable economy,
- increasing interest in the protection of forest values.
Environmental goals:
- raising awareness of the importance of forests in solving society-wide problems (climate change, protection of biodiversity, water, soil, etc.),
- informing about the benefits and benefits of forests for humans (wood as a renewable raw material, production of green energy, forest fruits, game, etc.).
In general, we consider actors to be those who „actively participate in the action“. From the point of view of an individual, it is the person of a forest educator. From the institutional point of view, the actors of forest pedagogy (LP) are divided into:
LP Coordinator – National Forestry Centre under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic
LP implementers (all those who implement LP activities)
- State sector: LESY SR, š. p., Military Forests and Estates of the Slovak Republic, SOE, TANAP Administration with its seat in Tatranská Lomnica
- Non-state sector: urban, municipal, private, ecclesiastical forests
- Professional organizations: Slovak Forestry Chamber
- Educational organizations: Faculty of Forestry TU Zvolen, Secondary School of Forestry
Partners LP (all those who directly or indirectly intervene in the LP system, form public opinion, with their attitudes and opinions mediate information about LP, e.g. Association of Employers in Forestry)
Basically, all the goals of Forest Pedagogy are identical to the main goals of the European SMURF Project, whose main goals are sustainable forest management, economic viability and the effort to shape the future of small forest enterprises in Europe.
The event fulfilled its purpose.
The Land Association, in connection with the project and policies of SMURF, would like to use this activity in cooperation with some primary schools and the National Forestry Centre, in connection with the Šalková – Poniky cycle route, with a link to the construction of a gazebo, which as a whole, in our opinion, is an ideal connection – children – movement – forest (nature) – obtaining important information within forest pedagogy.
Ing. Bc. Ivan Uhrík, PhD. predseda spoločenstva
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