Forest education

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Forest education (synonym: forest environmental education) is qualified environmental education relating to the forest and forestry . Forest pedagogy is educational work to promote understanding and acceptance of sustainable forest use and is part of education for sustainable development in the sense of the UN Decade 2005-2014 of the United Nations .

description

Ute Reifferscheidt is considered a pioneer in forest education, who in 1980 at the forestry office in Aachen (under the direction of forestry director Rainer Kerz) created the forest education profession as a forest educator. In 1985 she changed forest education to forest pedagogy and that is how the term came about for the first time.

The founder of the first Swiss forest school is the teacher Han Coray , who in the age of increasing technology wanted to counterbalance education and bring young people closer to nature. The first youth forest homes and forest school homes were founded after the Second World War . During this time of new beginnings, the German Forest Protection Association was founded in 1947, an association that was important for forest education then and now.

Forest education is a form of nature education and to holistically close bring through practical experience and learning ecological and social contexts in woods and nature and thus counteract the alienation from nature. Forest education encompasses all learning processes relating to the forest habitat and its functions, which enable the individual and society to think and act in a long-term and sustainable manner , holistically and responsibly , committed to the common good .

The term "forest pedagogy" is used in various federal states in the legal text and is a fixed term in forestry circles. This is also used in federal states in which this task is not stipulated by law and there is a broad consensus on the content.

Forest as a place of learning

The forest is a natural habitat , probably even the most natural in urbanized Central Europe. Forest fascinates and arouses sensations . Forests are dynamic and alive. In the forest there is always a natural carpet of sounds and scents with rustling leaves and birdsong in the background, influencing the subconscious.

Forest education seeks the balance between life and learning, between games and work and between education and teaching. She wants to bring together the emotional and the cognitive in experience. Forest educators use these framework conditions and support people to become active themselves and to discover nature and its beauty.

aims

Many children and young people hardly ever come to the forest these days. Therefore, forest education wants to bring the young people closer to nature - sometimes in a playful way. Forest education is targeted youth work, active forest protection and practical biology lessons. In terms of forest-related environmental education, forest education claims to be an educational and educational concept. With the support of the offers of the forest administrations, forest-related environmental education wants to supplement the school educational work.

Forest pedagogy provides target group-specific, up-to-date and technically balanced knowledge and creates awareness for the concerns of forests and forestry. It is based on the environment of the individual. Forest management serves as a sustainability model that includes and takes into account ecological, economic, social and cultural aspects. The design competence of the participants in forest education events should be trained and promoted, among other things, by making it clear where forests and forestry are important for the everyday life of each individual.

Forest pedagogy conveys values ​​such as respect for the forest, nature and the environment and responsible and sustainable handling of the natural resources left to us, as well as responsibility and care for future generations.

Content and topics of forest education

The main content and topics of forest education work are:

  • The forest as a place to get to know and experience nature is suitable as a place of learning with its wide range of topics for object-related learning and understanding of ecological relationships.
  • The forest has protective functions for water, soil, air and climate, protects against natural hazards and, as a habitat that is particularly close to nature, is of great importance for biodiversity and as a recreational area.
  • Functional and sustainable forests are important for the well-being of people and society.
  • Forestry close to nature is a model and a successful example of a sustainability concept that has been implemented in practice and takes economic, ecological, social and cultural aspects into account.
  • The variety of interests linked to forest and forestry (jobs, forest work, source of income for forest owners, craft and industry, forest history, species and biotope protection, cultural property) and the role of the forester as a specialist, coordinator, moderator or mediator in all forest-related issues.
  • Wood is a versatile, renewable raw material with an unbeatable ecological balance .

Examples of forest educational institutions

In regions with a particularly high density of target groups and in areas that are particularly attractive for tourists, the offer is supplemented and expanded by special forest educational institutions - for example forest adventure centers and youth forest homes. With special programs and an expanded range of target groups, the facilities complement the extensive educational offerings in the forest districts.
Some forest districts have their own educational institutions, for example the House of the Forest near Gräbendorf in the Königs Wusterhausen forest district .

The project group "Forest Education Work in Bavaria" is responsible for the conception of the content of the forest pedagogical guideline "Forest Education Work" and its ongoing updating. It is made up of employees from all levels of the Bavarian Forest Administration, employees from the Ministry of Culture , the Ministry of the Environment and members from the Bavarian State Forests and science.

swell

  • Forest educational work - Forest pedagogical guidelines not only for foresters. Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forests, 2009, ISBN 978-3-00-001292-1 .
  • Sandra Liebal: Forest Education - Theoretical Basics, Educational Concept for School Practice, Effects. A case study at the Mohorn primary school (Saxony). Kessel, Remagen, 2011, ISBN 978-3-941300-57-6 .
  • Eberhard Bolay: The forest adventure backpack. House of the Forest, Stuttgart 2009.
  • Eberhard Bolay, Berthold Reichle: Manual of forest pedagogy - theory and practice of forest-related environmental education. Volume 1: Theory. 4th edition. Hohengehren, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8340-1335-4
  • Eberhard Bolay, Berthold Reichle: Manual of forest pedagogy - theory and practice of forest-related environmental education. Volume 2: Practical Concepts. Hohengehren, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8340-0922-7
  • Eberhard Bolay: database woodruff. Collection of forest educational activities free of charge at www.hausdeswaldes.de
  • Bernhard Pauli, Michael Suda, Veronika Mages: The slaughterhouse paradox or the dilemma of forest public relations . In: LWF aktuell, issue 13, pp. 10-14, 1998
  • M. Suda, B. Pauli, V. Mages, U. Klins: Forest, wood and forestry in the mirror of public opinion . In: Forstliche Forschungsberichte München, No. 172, pp. 49-68, 1988

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Forest Education. at: www.nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de , accessed on December 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ Forest pedagogue demands: "Give the children forest". May 5, 2019, accessed December 26, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Bolay, 1998
  4. ^ Landesbetrieb Forst Brandenburg: Haus des Waldes .