Expert Consultation on Forestry Education

INTRODUCTION

Background

In many areas of the world, the forestry sector is evolving and adapting to new demands that in turn increase pressure on forest's resources, goods and services. Global trends such as, liberalization and decentralization, increasing role of the private sector and local communities amongst others, have changed the forestry institutional setting and new actors have emerged as partners in many sectors that traditionally had been public sector domains. There is a change from timber-exploitation to management of forest resources (including non-timber forest products) as well as a shift from a mono-disciplinary approach towards an inter-disciplinary approach. Increased attention is now given to biological diversity, non wood forest products and other environmental functions provided by the various forest ecosystems, as well as, to their fundamental role in the livelihood systems of very large numbers of people outside as well as inside forests. Thus, the value of forests has shifted from being based mainly upon a forest-use model; to one that values forest services and includes also economic, social and environmental concerns.

Inevitably, this context has implications on how forestry is conceived, implemented and learned. In particular, at university level, the traditional curricula of forestry education needs to be revised in order to make it more responsive to the social, economic and environmental evolution seen in the forestry sector and society at large.

Objectives of the consultation

The objectives of the meeting were:

To discuss the current status of forestry education, global changes in the forestry sector and their implications for new profiles of foresters.
To discuss and recommend strategies for strengthening forestry education programmes in developing countries and in those countries with economies in transition.
To share experiences on curriculum development and revision, types of stakeholders and methodologies for their participation, contents and learning experiences, monitoring and evaluation; and elicit recommendations on how to approach the implementation of these processes.
To discuss the benefits of a systemic approach to forestry education and the need to provide forestry education to other stakeholders through formal, non-formal and informal educational settings.
To propose mechanisms and tools, including networks, to encourage conceptual debates, experience and information exchange at national, regional and international level.

Organization

The Consultation was organized by FAO in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Waters and Forests and the Ministry in Charge of Waters and Forests of Morocco. The "École Nationale Forestière d'Ingénieurs" (ENFI) was the focal organizing institution.

Participants

Nine experts were invited from Chile, France, Gabon, Morocco, United Kingdom, USA, the "Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza" (CATIE, Costa Rica), the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF, Kenya) and the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC, Thailand). Additionally, resource persons and observers from the Forestry Education Unit of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), the Mediterranean Programme Office of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-MedPo), the Regional Office for Central Africa of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Republic of Congo, the Tempus-Tacis ENARECO Project in Ukraine, and several Moroccan institutions were also invited.

FAO staff from Headquarters (Sustainable Development Department and Forestry Department) and the Near East Regional Office, also participated and served as secretariat. Annex 1 gives the full list of participants.

PROGRAMME

Structure of the meeting

The consultation was organized into four main segments: 1) Opening; 2) Setting the stage; 3) Development of recommendations; and 4) Summary and conclusions. The detailed programme is given in Annex 2.

Opening

The Consultation was officially inaugurated by Mr. Mohamed Anechoum, Secretary-General of the Ministry in Charge of Waters and Forests, who delivered the opening address on behalf of the Minister in Charge of Waters and Forests (Annex 3). Mr. Amor Ben Romdhane, FAO Representative in Morocco welcomed the participants on behalf of the Director-General of FAO (Annex 4), and Mr. Tage Michaelsen, Chief, Forest Conservation, Research and Education Service, delivered an address on behalf of the Forestry Department of FAO (Annex 5).

The participants elected Prof. Omar M'Hirit (Morocco) as Chairman of the Consultation and Prof. Hugh Miller (UK) as Vice-Chairman.

Setting the stage

The secretariat presented the framework, objectives, expected outputs, proposed structure and working procedures of the consultation, which were discussed and approved by the participants.

Keynotes on the following items were presented and discussed, as an introduction to the preparation of recommendations (the keynotes are included in Annex 7).

1. Global changes in the forestry sector and their implications for forestry education.

"The evolution of forestry missions in the French-speaking countries of Sub-Saharan Africa" by Jean Bedel.

As a complement, the secretariat presented main ideas and findings on the new profiles of foresters. This presentation was based on six case studies of forestry education curriculum development and revision in Honduras, Morocco, Namibia, Ukraine, Uruguay and Vietnam.

2. Approaches and methodologies for curriculum revision.

"Approaches and methodologies for updating forestry education programmes - the case of Morocco" by Omar M'Hirit.
"Approaches and methodologies for curriculum revision - the case of Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE)" by Al Moslemi.
"Reviewing curricula - rationale, process and outputs: ANAFE experience with the DACUM method in Africa" by August B. Temu and Wilson Kasolo.

3. Monitoring and evaluation.

"Monitoring and evaluation of forestry curricula" by Hugh Miller.
"Evaluation and monitoring of higher forestry education" by Siegfried Lewark.

4. Mechanisms and tools to strengthen forestry education programmes.

"Reforming forestry curricula in European countries in transition: The case of the TEMPUS-TACIS ENARECO Project in Ukraine" by Giorgio Andrian.
"On the use of the Group Process Approach for helping to update the training programmes in the Central African forestry schools" by Joachim Bilé Allogho and Jean-Claude Nguinguiri.

5. Education for all, a systemic approach to forestry education.

"Forestry education for the future: Expanding the scope" by the Education Group, Extension, Education and Communication Service, Sustainable Development Department (FAO, Rome).
"WWF Forest Conservation Strategy in the Mediterranean: The capacity building component" by Nora Berrahmouni.

Development of recommendations

Two working groups were formed to facilitate input from all participants. Both groups worked separately on each of the following outputs:

4.2. Identify possible agreements and activities to be implemented at a national, regional and international level to follow-up on the recommendations developed.

The results developed by the two working groups were then shared and discussed in plenary, before finalization of the above-mentioned outputs by the Consultation.

Summary and conclusions

Prof. Omar M'Hirit, Chairman of the Consultation, presented the results of the Consultation at the closing session, which was attended by representatives of the Government of Morocco. Mr. Tage Michaelsen delivered closing remarks on behalf of FAO (Annex 6).

Background Documents

The participants received the following documents as background readings for the meeting:

FAO. 2001. Forestry curriculum development and revision, case studies in developing countries.
Hosley, Suzanne; Nguyen Quynh Chi & Ngo Thi Minh Hang. 2001. Competency-based human resource development planning. Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam.
B.M.S. Rathore & Sejal, Worah. Human resource development in support of changing professional forestry education. International workshop on changing learning and education in forestry. Sapa, Vietnam, 16-19 April 2000. Sponsored by SDC, Helvetas Vietnam, RECOFTC and ANU, with support from IIRR.

Independent activities to the expert consultation

On Saturday, 21 October 2001 a field visit was organized to the Sidi Amira Research Centre, the Mâamora forest (cork oak regeneration experimental plots) and the Environmental Education Centre of the Biological Reserve of Sidi Boughaba.

RESULTS

The consultation highlighted that forestry education institutions, in many countries, are not on their own able to initiate and manage the following recommended processes. FAO should take leadership in all these steps. However, governments, public and private institutions in forestry education and other sectors, as well as NGOs should play key roles.

General considerations on the status of forestry education and recommendations for strengthening forestry education programmes

Findings

Participants identified changes that affect the forestry sector and their implications in forestry education.

Changes that affect the forestry sector

a) Changes in forest science

Forest science is putting more emphasis on the multiple functions of forests. This holistic perspective demands a systemic way of looking at forests by integrating the social and ecological forest systems within people-centred approaches.
Many non-wood forest products (such as wildlife and forest products related to the livelihoods of people living in and outside forest areas) and forest services (biological diversity conservation, climate change mitigation, water conservation, etc.) are being revalued by society at large.
The importance of tree management outside forests is increasing.

b) Global conventions and forest policies

The formulation of forest global policies and agreements in international conventions do not fit sufficiently with the different land-and water use sectors.

c) Forest management practices and technologies, job markets and stakeholders

Expectations from foresters have expanded to deal with an ever-increasing range of stakeholders.
Forests are intimately linked to issues of food security and poverty alleviation- in particular in developing countries- which are presently not adequately emphasized in forestry development activities.

d) Education systems and information and communication technologies

The legal frameworks for forestry education institutions at different levels often do not provide the necessary flexibility to implement changes.
Current forestry education objectives, content and teaching-learning methods do not adequately respond to the changing needs of forest conservation, management and sustainable development nor cover adequately issues of food security and poverty alleviation.
Information and communication technologies have advanced greatly and are not being used sufficiently as a tool for fast and wide delivery of forestry education.

Implications of these changes in forestry education

There is a need to reorganize the teaching-learning system and consider the development of qualifications for continuing learning (keep knowledge updated), such as critical thinking skills, analytical and problem-solving skills, based on real issues.
Forestry education curricula should respond to the evolving values assigned by society to forests' goods and services.
There is a need for an interdisciplinary focus in forestry education, connecting subjects in the curricula, including social and economic aspects.
Teaching approaches should be sequenced to proceed from the whole (holistic perspective) to the specific, and foster the understanding of the social, economic and biophysical dynamics.
Forestry education should address the need for an integrated approach, at the technical and policy level, towards management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
Forestry education should give attention to the link between forestry and agricultural sustainability, and more specifically between food security and income generation in relation to the livelihoods of different sectors of society.
The role of foresters should include that of an adviser to forest users and participant in dialogues with stakeholders for which social skills need to be developed.

Recommendations to FAO and member countries

The capacity of institutions and programmes should be re-enforced and updated to respond to recent changes.
The understanding of the role of forests and trees at the landscape level should be facilitated.

Recommendations to FAO

FAO should facilitate policy analysis to enable the flexibility required in legal and institutional frameworks for development and implementation of changes in forestry education institutions.

Curricula revision, development and implementation

Findings

a) General overview

There is a need to build capacity among forestry educators to be aware of the new challenges and opportunities in forestry and forestry education and the need for curricula revisions.
Forestry education institutions need to build their capacity for dialogue with stakeholders.
Competency gaps among serving foresters need to be better identified, and addressed in curricula revision.

b) Teaching-learning methods

Teaching-learning methods should re-enforce analytical thinking and the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes required for the search for knowledge by students alone or in teams.
Teaching-learning methods should emphasise task-based work that encompasses analysis and solving of specific problems.

c) Resources

Relevance and quality of forestry education may be re-enforced by allocating resources to facilitate practical teaching-learning experiences.
There is a need to create partnerships with forest users, NGOs and research institutions to complement human and financial resources.

d) Processes and characteristics for improving the capacity of teachers

Forestry education faculty performance criteria need to be clearly established and/or revisited in relation to the new challenges for forestry education.
Forestry education teachers and trainers require support to develop and strengthen active and participatory teaching-learning skills.

e) Components and processes for monitoring & evaluation

More emphasis should be given to the evaluation of problem solving skills.
Performance evaluations should also include alumni follow up strategies in collaboration with potential employers.

Recommendations to FAO and member countries

FAO and member countries should support and/or encourage:

Staff training in participatory curriculum development methodology.
Implementation of curriculum revisions in accordance with the recommendations set out by this consultation.
The adoption of flexible methodologies for updating curricula (including possibilities for core courses plus a range of elective courses).
The adoption of innovative and interactive methods of teaching-learning processes, including experiential learning, distance education and the use of new information technologies (internet, teleconferencing, e-mail, computer based learning, etc).

Recommendations to FAO

FAO should facilitate inter-institutional exchange of knowledge and experience through inter-faculty visits, workshops and extra-mural activities in forestry and related disciplines.

Provision of forestry education to the wider public, through formal and non-formal education, including the media (mass communication)

Findings

Rural development is not often considered as an explicit part of forestry education curricula. There is a need to foster an understanding of the role of forestry and other disciplines in poverty reduction, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
Forestry education programmes do not facilitate the use of interdisciplinary units of study by integrating other related disciplines. There is a need to develop forestry education programmes that integrate other related disciplines.
Forestry education programmes do not sufficiently address the interests and concerns of communities that use and/or live in forests, including issues of equity and forest users' responsibilities and rights in sustainable resource use and management. In this, gender issues and considerations should also be addressed.

Recommendations to FAO and member countries

Participatory appraisals should be promoted to establish the learning needs of forestry populations bearing in mind the contribution that this can make to the promotion of functional literacy.

Recommendations to FAO

FAO should:

Facilitate the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that available knowledge and materials at forestry schools can be adapted and made available to primary and secondary schools teachers and extension institutions.
Facilitate the rethinking of forestry education traditional roles, emphasizing particularly, its contribution to "Basic Education for All" (education to the general public).

Mechanisms and tools for forestry education institutions to interact and exchange information

Findings

Forestry education institutions do not sufficiently participate in the formulation of national forestry agendas.
Networking among institutions at all levels of forestry education is vital. Professional associations should be encouraged and supported to cement collaboration.
There is a need to establish mechanisms to facilitate co-operation and integration where possible, among education, research and development institutions in forestry and in related sectors.
Forestry educators do not sufficiently participate in regional forestry and related networks to benefit from collaborative activities, information sharing, peer comparison, etc.
There is a need for the United Nations Forum on Forests to acknowledge the essential role of forestry education, as the base for building capacity in the forestry sector, and to take up forestry education into its programme of work.
Quality audits are needed to ensure high standards of education, including comparison at regional and international levels.
There is a need to make forestry education more attractive and exciting. Countries should establish ways of providing space for forestry in public and private media to promote the image of forestry and the forestry profession. Forestry professional societies and education institutions should be pro-active in this role.
Institutions and networks such as, CATIE, ANAFE, the Central African Network of Forestry Education Institutions and RECOFT are good examples of regional mechanisms to strengthen forestry education. Their efforts should be expanded and complemented.

Recommendations to FAO

The consultation stressed that the support of Member Countries is essential to the success of FAO's efforts to provide assistance to forestry education, including, harmonization of forestry education systems, the expansion of regional programmes and the integration of research and education.

FAO should:

Continue to play the role of facilitator to strengthen collaboration processes among forestry education institutions;
Facilitate information exchange through the establishment and maintenance databases easily available to a variety of users, including, institutes, teachers and researchers;
Promote the establishment of regional networks to support forestry education institutions;
In cooperation with IUFRO, promote mechanisms of interaction among forestry research, education (including continuing education) communication and extension;
Promote forestry education as an integral part of national forest programmes at the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF);
Organize meetings, among other processes and other concerned partners, to assist in the formulation of recommendations for future forestry education at all levels.