ForLife – Forest – our lifelong teacher

The project aims to educate and empower teachers in the field of global challenges of environmental education (with emphasis on forests and their connection with climate change), through quality lessons and outdoor activities to achieve goals in the field of education for Sustainable development (ESD). ESD plays a key role in modern education. It includes a very broad field of study so new approaches and forms of pedagogical work (cooperative learning, field exploration, problem solving etc.) will be appreciated and shared with other colleagues. 

Through the project, the partners will provide the involved teachers with the professional support of experts who will share their knowledge in the field of forestry, and enable them the opportunity to exchange experience of good practice that they will be able to transfer to their work.

Teachers have to feel sufficiently qualified, confident, with new skills at the end of the project, to pass on to their students. The project wants to emphasize the role and importance of forests and their main functions (social, production and especially ecological), the inclusion of forest visits in regular school work, to improve knowledge of the forest as a natural environment in Europe, emphasize the importance of forest protection, afforestation and sustainable forest management.  

During the project, the partners will guide teachers to use new knowledge and further in following period to prepare lessons and activities related to selected lectures, which they will try out with students.

The aim of the project is  to bring the forest closer to all groups of students. Students learn the most during activities where they can also participate on their own (hands-on activities). Therefore, there is an opportunity to include also students with special needs, marginalized and sensitive groups (Roma students and immigrants who often have difficulty learning due to their knowledge of terminology, women and girls). Through practical activities, games and outdoor activities, the mentioned groups can also actively participate, learn and gain new knowledge in relation to forests. 

The main objective of the project is for teachers to receive relevant expertise, which they will pass on to their students and educate them about the importance of forests in relation to climate change. As a result, the trained teachers will use gained knowledge to educate their students who will in following period change their attitude towards forests and show the concern for nature and the future of our planet through their activities (not only in schools, bur also more widely) and to become active citizens. 

The sustainable forest management requires the adoption of practices that take in account scenarios of future climate. Information/educational instruments are foreseen as the important tool of the resilience of the forest to climate change (educational institutions have important role, including Eco-Schools and others). The implementation of these measures needs to be supported by a training and awareness raising that builds both general knowledge on climate change and forest management.