17th european forest pedagogics congress

20. - 22. 09. 2023, Bonn, Germany

In September, a representative of our Forest of Experiments team and Slovenia's representative in the FCN subgrop of forest pedagogues gozdnih pedagogov Ajša Alagić, participated in the 17th European Forest Pedagogics' Congress, this year themed "Learning to create together ‒ How can Forest Education for Sustainable Development build partnerships and empower people?". More than 160 people from 26 countries attended the congress.

The first day was devoted to interesting discussions with eminent representatives from ministries, state forestry services, the Academy for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection and Funding, the FCN subgroup of forest educators and Forest Europe. This was followed by two interesting lectures by Dr Andreas Schwarz (Institute of Biology Education and Didactics of Cologne) on "Learning Science and Climate in a Post-Factual Age - Social Acceptance of Reality" and Dr. Astrid Schilling in the afternoon, outdoor "workspaces" where lively discussions took place. Ajša moderated one of them, "What topics should we focus on for forest educators in the future?". The second day started with interesting new lectures by Dr Michael Pries (Lernort Werkstatt, extracurricular workspace) on the role of extracurricular workspace and on the management of the Bonn urban forest by the managers, and continued with outdoor workshops where we could try out different methods from fellow forest pedagogues from abroad. On the last day, there were two more inspiring lectures on empowerment by Stefan Rostock (Germanwatch) and communication in forestry (Prof. Dr. Stephanie Steinebach), followed by a presentation of the results of the first day's workspaces and a discussion.

Main conclusions:

• Knowledge building and awareness raising should start as early as possible.

• Forest pedagogy should become a normal part of education for sustainable development.

• Promoting the diverse use of forests through environmental education can increase the acceptance of different perspectives.

• We need people who are aware of the multifunctionality of forests and can communicate this awareness to the general public.

• Knowledge alone is not enough to prepare a person to act. It is also necessary to feel it!

• We need to be committed ourselves if we want commitment from schools and ministries.

If you would like to find out more about the programme and the speakers, you can find more detailed information at here.