Can we integrate online training formats with in-forest marteloscope workshops?
Article by Jonathan Spazzi
New integrated forest management systems seek to combine the profitable production of quality timber with the enhancement and protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services. To date, lack of knowledge and expertise of management options have been one of the main hurdles to enabling such systems. Teagasc collaborated with Irish stakeholders and three European forest agencies in Belgium, France and Germany in a new and ambitious Erasmus+ project to develop ‘ForestMoocForChange’ – the first free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on continuous cover forest management (CCF).
This new interactive educational tool went live in October 2023, aiming to facilitate transformation of forests towards integrated management systems, promoting production of quality wood, biodiversity and ecosystem services. The eight-week course was offered in three languages (French, German and English), self-paced and includes 74 tutorial videos, online quizzes and exercises to carry out in the forest. During the project, running between 2023 and 2024, each fortnight a live session allowed participants to ask questions regarding topics covered.
After viewing the videos and on successful completion of quizzes and exercises, participants received a certificate and approved a ‘charter of commitment’, to use and further develop their knowledge and understanding of CCF. Over 12,000 learners took the training course in 2023/2024, with over 2.500 certificates achieved.
By demonstrating how forest transformation practices and management tools can be applied, the course provides innovative ways to enhance forest owners’ and managers’ capacity to adopt integrated management systems in their forests and thereby initiate long-term societal change. The course supports National and EU forest policies, which increasingly promote integrated management to enhance resilience, sustain production and deliver ecosystem services to society.
This project was also recently selected and included in Teagasc annual “Research Impact Highlights” publication, showcasing research dissemination projects that show significant impact.
The ‘ForestMoocForChange’ online training has come to an end in June 2024 but with a new Catalan partner, the MOOC team has expanded and recently applied for further funding to secure continued access to the original MOOC, as well as develop a new online training facility that focuses on research and best practice for adaptive forest management to counter the impact of climatic changes to European forests.
Linking the MOOC with marteloscope workshops
During the course of this project a link emerged between this new online training facility on integrated management and Teagasc’s ongoing marteloscope training workshops: Learners from ForestMoocForChange seemed to progress to marteloscope workshops and marteloscope workshops attendees to the ForestMoocForChange programme. This revealed the opportunity to further integrate online training formats with in-forest marteloscope workshops.
This year Teagasc has so far completed 6 marteloscope workshop events at its facility in Oak Park, where a total of almost 100 participants came to a 1 day intensive workshop: mostly forest owners but also foresters, contractors, students and general public. Read more about it here.
These workshops adopt a facilitation-style format and encourage participants to learn by doing, leading to group discussions and valuable peer-to-peer learning. The main aims of these workshops are:
- to consider different forest management scenarios
- to practise the key skill of selecting trees by their quality, vigour and biodiversity value
- to demonstrate in practice how management can help integrate production with biodiversity and other important services that forests can provide
