Air your views on the future of forest education—participate in global survey

15 July 2020

ITTO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) have launched a global survey as part of a joint initiative to advance forest education worldwide. Environmental educators, forestry students and forest-related employers are invited to participate in the survey from 15 July 2020.

Ensuring that forest professionals are well prepared for the demands of sustainable development in an increasingly complex world requires forward-looking forest education. FAO, IUFRO and ITTO are undertaking a global project to develop a long-term vision and strategic plan for coordinating international efforts to this end. The three organizations are conducting a survey of environmental educators, forestry students and forest-related employers worldwide aimed at generating insights on, for example, ongoing education initiatives, approaches, resources and technologies; teacher competencies; key players; and the readiness of forest graduates for the workplace. The survey targets all educational levels—primary, secondary and tertiary (including technical and vocational training)—in all regions of the world.

The results of the survey will be compiled in six regional reports and a global assessment. These reports will be presented at the International Conference on Forest Education, the date of which will be determined later.

As part of the global education project, which is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), ITTO is developing an online learning course on legal and sustainable supply chains for tropical timber and tropical wood products. The course will be available in late 2020.

ITTO, FAO and IUFRO all see considerable potential for, and benefits in, increasing global coordination in forest education.

“Exciting new technologies, such as online learning, can be harnessed to complement traditional teaching approaches, offering significant opportunities to improve forest education for a wide range of stakeholders,” said ITTO’s Sheam Satkuru, who is overseeing ITTO’s participation in the global project.

“Strong links between forest education and research are fundamental as they will help ensure that sound science underpins forest management and policymaking and that education programmes produce a strong cadre of forest researchers,” said IUFRO Executive Director Alexander Buck.

“Without a cadre of well-trained forest managers and policymakers, it will be impossible to maximize the contributions of forests and trees to sustainable development,” said Andrew Taber, leader of FAO’s social forestry team.

Take the survey

Visit FAO’s webpage on the Global Education Project

For more information on the survey contact tetra@itto.int