The objective of METAFor has been to develop and apply an innovative multi-level cross-border educational platform on sustainable forest management in the region. Specific objectives of the project have been to:
1. Reveal potentials and obstacles for sustainable forest use in the region and find the ways to solve the problems through providing cross-border information exchange and cooperation by using the expertise of the project group, steering committee and other experts.
2. Improve practical and theoretical skills of forestry practitioners and students and thus improve forestry practices already during the project implementation and in the long run.
3. Disseminate the project results on various levels: local, national and international, aiming at increased cross-border information exchange and cooperation.
The activities included 1) Survey (analysis of the current situation in education related to forestry and environment) and development (suggesting means to improve it), 2) Training (developing study curruculae and organizing a set of courses) and 3) Communication (communicating the results to media; developing study curriculae and guidelines for end-users).
The project outputs included 1) The seminar organized by the project together with the Steering Committee with the involvement of decision makers, stake holders, end users, researchers and practitioners helped in defining the problems that hamper sustainability in forest use and stimulate the cross-border cooperation in solving these problems, 2) 15 courses and trainings on different levels targeted for the university students, forestry practitioners and school students, 3) eight communication outputs incl. publications on current cross-border problems in forest sector of the region and recommendations for sustainable forest management as well as revised conceptual and methodological issues. All project outputs have both short- and long-term nature, i.e. their impact is much longer than the project period of financing.
The activities of METAFor have been directed to fill the gaps in cooperation, knowledge, and education. The successful implementation of these activities has been ensured by participation of the best regional organizations and experts in the regional forestry sector. The activities enabled the information exchange between decision makers, stake holders, increase cross-border cooperation in forestry and environmental education, improved the knowledge of sustainable forest management and forest ecosystem services in the region.
View this project in keep.eu
