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 Bulgaria
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Lithuania
Norway
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Sweden
Turkey
Bulgaria
Thirty
schools and
kindergartens from the regions of Bourgas, Varna, Dobrich and
Plovdiv are involved with the Learning About Forest programme.
Over a hundred different activities have taken place in
schools across the country especially during Forest Week in
April.
Although there were previously many forest initiatives in
Bulgaria, the Learning About Forests programme is the first
national forests and schools initiative.
The
Bulgarian project involves municipalities, school committees,
educational and environmental inspectorates, tourist companies,
nature parks, NGOs, amongst others.
Schools have worked on individual plans and projects as
well as international Learning About Forests themes.
Bulgarian contributions to the international programme
have been outstanding.
In
recognition of excellent work 13 schools and kindergartens in
Bulgaria received a Learning About Forests certificate at a
ceremony on 9 May2002, organised as part of the Days of Europe
hosted by the town of Bourgas.
The Mayor and Deputy, head teachers, teachers and NGO
representatives were in attendance. The Minister of Forests sent
special greetings and appreciation for the work that had been
done.
Support for future initiatives was also pledged.
Cyprus
In Cyprus the Learning About Forests project is closely
linked to the Forest Fire Project.
The recently established Lemithou Environmental Education
Centre
is a popular venue for schools to learn about forests. Exchange visits between schools from different
countries are proving very popular.
There have been meetings between teachers and school
children from Greece, Cyprus and Denmark at the Lemithou EE
Centre.
Currently
over 2000 students from 72 schools (50 primary and 22 secondary)
are involved with 250 teachers working both with students and
teams of teachers. The
project works in partnership with the Ministry of Education and
Culture and with the Lemithou Environmental Education Centre
recently established by the Pedagogical Institute.
Cyprus hosted this year’s National Operator meeting in
November 2002, a generous offer which is greatly appreciated by the
programme.
Denmark
www.
skoven-i-skolen.dk
The
Skoven i Skolen (Danish Learning about Forests) project
was initiated in December 1999 and is based at the Danish Forest
Association. Danish
materials on forests and wood for primary schools for 0-2 classes
(85 lesson plans) are available on the website.
Activities
for classes 3-6 are currently being produced.
Some of these materials have been translated into English
for our website – see Activities.
Courses
have been arranged for teachers in conjunction with nature
rangers.
An industry network is also being developed with nine
factories offering to host schools and a booklet of ideas for
hosting schools being developed for the factory owners.
Denmark is also developing the Swedish idea of ‘school
forests’.
A school forest is a small forest area near to a school
that can be used as a green classroom following an agreement
between the forest owner and the school.
Currently a forest project to promote international
exchange and the learning of English is being developed drawing
on Learning About Forest materials and contacts.
Finland
In
Finland the Learning About Forests programme is linked to the
Finnish Forest Association which is responsible for co-ordinating
national cooperation between schools and the forest sector.
Schools generally operate independently developing their
own websites and applying for funds from, for example, the EU
Comenius project. Children
at Lintumetsä Secondary School have produced a webpage of Finnish
forest myths – see Myths: Finland.
International Learning About Forests teacher workshops and
national operator meetings have been held in Helsinki in both 2000 and 2001.
These
meetings were funded by the Finnish Forest Industry and provided
an opportunity to meet with several active Finnish teachers.
Teachers frequently work together in informal regional
groups.
Greece
There are about 34 schools
involved in the programme in Greece ranging from kindergarten to
primary, high and senior high schools.
Over 500 students are involved.
Information leaflets and a book of 50 forest activities
for schools has been compiled.
This book will be published when funding is found.
Schools are very active in visiting local forests,
planting trees, writing short stories and articles for the local
newspapers.
A popular
Tree Planting Day takes place in December each year.
Ireland
The
Irish project has currently worked with one pilot school and
will shortly involve a further two schools.
Activities are both classroom and field-based with classes
working on forest projects for 3 months to be published on the
school’s website for wider sharing.
Much work has been done to tell schools about the Learning
About Forests programme during Tree Planting Week and there
is much interest. The
project is also making links with the Green Schools many of
whom are already working on appropriate Learning About Forests
themes. Some excellent materials for teachers with close links to the
Social, Environmental and Scientific syllabus for primary schools
have been developed and can be accessed on the web (see Activities).
Italy
There
are about 10 schools working on the Learning About Forest
programme from different regions in Italy.
An interim national operator has recently been appointed to
take over from the previous co-ordinator who has left following
the birth of her son. For a useful site on the
national parks and nature reserves in Italy visit www.parks.it
(available in Italian, English and German).
Lithuania
There are several projects involved with forests and schools in
Lithuania. These
include the Society of Concerned Young Forest Friends and the
Lithuanian Green Movement. Links with the Learning About Forests project are
being developed.
Norway
www.skogkurs.no/lms
The Learning with Forests (Lære med Skogen) programme
has been established in Norway for over 30 years. 30%
of school children (about 170 000 pupils) are involved with the
Forests programme. Teachers courses (58 were held in 2001
involving over 1000 teachers) and the website are key aspects of
the programme.
Excellent Norwegian materials have been developed.
A recent exciting development is a Nordic Interactive
Internet Project. Initially
schools in Norway and Sweden will work together on an
interactive newspaper, but this will soon be extended to other
countries. Watch
the website!
Portugal
www.nicif.pt
Prosepe
is
a forest education project started in 1993 in Portugal currently
involving 355 schools. Schools form ‘Clubs of the Forest’.
Materials and a regular journal for schools are produced.
Romania
Welcome
to Romania! A new co-ordinator has recently been appointed
to start a forests programme for Romanian schools.
Currently a joint project with Denmark is being explored.
The idea is to draw on Danish expertise and experience in order
to establish Learnin About Forests in Romania. There is a
possibility of an exchange trip for Danish and Romanian
teachers.
Russia
Welcome
to Keep St. Petersburg Tidy who will begin a pilot Learning
About Forests programme in Russia. As the newest member of
the Foundation of Environmental Education this organisation has
also begun to work on the Eco-Schools and Blue Flag programmes.
Sweden
www.skogeniskolan.se
Skogen
i Skolan
(Forests and Schools), started in 1973, is the oldest and largest programme of co-operation between schools and
business (the forest industries) in Sweden. The project has produced a number of learning materials for
schools, publishes a regular newspaper for schools and organises
training courses. Thousands
of pupils attend Forest Days in the big cities of Sweden every
year. Other activities include study days in local forests or
forest industries. There
are currently around 800 school forests in Sweden with schools
– following agreements with the landowners these small areas
of forest can be used by schools for various activities.
About 30 Eco-Schools in Sweden are currently working with
forests as a theme for their eco-school work.
Turkey
During
the pilot phase of the project it has worked with three groups
in a school in Istanbul. All groups have visited a local
forest and studies have covered a range of topics from
biodiversity to forest production with a focus on special trees.
More schools will be encouraged to join
the
programme for the next school year.
A
children’s travelling theatre is popular. A
new national operator has recently been appointed and intends to
involve many more schools from different regions In Turkey.
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