Thanks to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for supporting this valuable work. The target audiences are the trainee teachers / lecturers of three third-level institutions (Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, and DCU St. Patrick’s Campus, Dublin). Each of these trainee teachers has a career ahead where they are going to be reaching multiple hundreds of students, so this project has an amplifier effect. These trainee teachers can carry the knowledge and skills learned with them into every classroom and every school they go into.  

The project includes sharing practical skills and IT resources in both classroom and outdoor settings is an example of best practice to support teachers in blended active outdoor learning. This will also go on to help provide those teachers’ future students with knowledge about forestry work as a great study choice and career.

The project will build on LEAF’s previous DAFM funded Learning about Forests project. Furthermore, LEAF aims to advance and explore Forests & Products on a deeper level. 

Part of the project will be to prepare trainee teachers for the current implementation of Government policy in relation to circular and bioeconomy, climate policy and the Nature-Based solution approach for future sustainable construction materials. To also introduce participants to the life cycle of wood products and the need for resource efficiency.  It is crucial to ensure that forestry policy is informed by facts and science, communicated effectively through co-ordinated and targeted campaigns. 

Teacher Training 3rd level institutions  

The aim to engage with the three teacher training institutions in Ireland, (Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, and St. Patrick’s College, Dublin) to host a series of Learning about Forests & Products workshops with the soon-to-be teachers. The focus will be on the benefits that healthy and resilient forests provide. As a result, they will be equipped to teach their students about the importance of our forests.