FORMAL AND NONFORMAL ENVIRONMETAL EDUCATION ON FORESTRY

I. Principles of formal Ecological Education on forestry

These formal principles are guiding lines of the curricular project on Forestry and their origins stays in the specificity of the area and general psycho pedagogical exigencies of a curriculum projection (we specify that such principles are valid not only on Forestry, but also on Economics, Biology, Chemistry a.s.o.). Some of these principles are:

Axiological orientation of the ecological education principle

Pragmatic orientation principle

Interdisciplinarity principle

Experiential learning principle

Curricular actualization principle

Axiological orientation of the Ecological Education principle

Ecological education implies, first of all, to change of the personal, social and professional values, recommending the reconfiguration of our individual and collective hierarchies.

Without an aiming of values, any ecological education program is inefficient. Not the values itself, outside of reality, are important, but rather their reflection in daily life the behaviours associated to a certain value. Maybe more than in other areas, the values are extremely significant in Environmental Education (EE) on Forestry. In this context, we must take into account a series of aspects that underlines and facilitate the conceiving of adequate bases for EE.

The Forestry filed

In this area the values that will condition the future structure of the citizen personality, who will be a specialist in forestry by his profession, are starting from the first years of school; though, in this area the situation is totally specific, as following:

The education on Forestry is starting with high-school, so we cannot discuss about the specificity of this field at the 1-8 classes, as level of schooling;

For the instance, it can be said that, from the education plan of the high-school Scholar Forest Group (Campulung Moldovenesc) point of view as well as the Stefan cel Mare University (Suceava) plan of education, Forestry College, about 40-60% from the subjects matter content have a strong connection with EE.

Among these various subjects matter on this field are the following:

Lumber exploitation

Forestry High-school

Timber technology

Dendometry

Topography

Ecology

Forestry College

Pedology

Dendrology

Phitopathology

Thus, we appreciate that the experience, the exercise and the context are emphasises differently on the forestry field, meaning that the teaching intensity is growing as the trainee age increases; the basic idea is that the future trainee on this field will be a specialist in forestry and he/she will have to influence himself the social groups in order to respect the environment; we suggest in the following chart that for the forestry field the accent on EE its starting with the age of 18, as following:

In case of the forestry field, an example of principles that can be allowed for the trainer, in any teaching of a subject matter in high-school/college, is presented in the following chart:

One of the latest indicators for any individuals that he/she became an adult consists in the crystallization of a well woven and relative stabile values system. In other words, about a stabile values system owned by a person can be talked at the end of the teenage period. This doesnt mean that the small age pupils cant have personal value sets. What individualizes the children against the teenagers is an axiological fluidity and instability manifested through a certain value inconstancy, meaning an easy modification of points of view and a value preferences.

We appreciate that, as we mentioned before, in any professional areas that we relate to, the major influence on the trainee behaviour starts from the first years of school; is generally accepted by psychologists that between 0 and 16 years is structuring the main components of the individual personality (his or her pattern); that is the period when through the direct experience, the exercise and the context in which the trainee is put, his/her behaviour in society can be modulated even related to environment; the idea mentioned before is presented in the following chart:

If we agree with Hofstede opinion, who define the culture as a collective mental programming of a nation or of a big social group (Hofstede, 1991), it results that the cultural matrix that we belong to its structuring still from 0-15 years period; it means that certain RIGHTS and OBLIGAtions of a person as a member of a group, must be suggested by the trainer even from the first years of school. Briefly, any person has rights and obligations that have to practice consciously as a member of the group, to reflect them by its behaviour in daily life.

For example, at the subject matter Civic education the trainer can and has to use EE principles and to induce the rights-obligations axiom even from the first years of school (there are no rights without obligations, these two components must be balanced, the pupil exercises simultaneously rights and obligations); the idea is presented in the following chart:

In this context, we can assert that the values influence the behaviours only when the latest ones are the result of a conscious decision. The values can influence the behaviours also through other mechanisms such as habits, that dont enforce conscious decisions necessarily.

Forestry:

In this field, as we previously mentioned, by its own nature, the situation is totally specific, meaning that:

the education in forestry begins with high-school;

we can assert that, for the majority of the subjects matter in this area, the connection with EE principles is about 40-70% per subject matter.

We do mention, once again, that its up to every trainer/teacher, in accordance with the teaching subject matter, to take into account the EE principles and to figure out contexts through which they can determine the trainee to adopt decisions regarding environment; for example, on the subject The Study of Wood and the Forest Products, the students / pupils can be challenged to involve themselves in various decisional processes related to environment, by:

a)      The organization of some practical lessons, on a route of 1-2 weekends of the semester, through which is simultaneously atomized the concepts of this subject and the environmental problems; in this manner, there are organized various activities, involving together teachers and students:

expedition in Calimani Mountains;

visit the saw mill from Brosteni;

visit the Mobexpert factory;

geographical orientation;

activities at the Hunt Station from Rasca;

attendance to a hunt in Vatra Dornei zone.

In any of these contexts, the student/pupil is put in front of a direct experience regarding the EE issue and the environment; he/she concludes by immediate experience how important is the forest protection and the wood scientific exploitation as a natural wealth; the basic idea is that from a quantity of lumber exploited annually, of 100.000 mc (it is the maximum quantity that can be exploited annually in Suceava county), to decide the most advantageous way in which this lumber must be atomize (either to export, or to internal market). Moreover, the student is put in situations that requires conscious decisions, as a result of the direct experience accumulated in one previous context or another (is it more efficient the lumber export or the furniture export?, is it in the national economy or in the firms interest to export logs?, which wood based products are most profitable to export?, how big is the cost of manual labour in total value of a XXI period furniture garniture?, which tree culture is more efficient?).

b)      The students/pupils groups division in 2 negotiation teams that attend to simulate, by direct discussion and with computer help, in laboratory or in seminar room (based on the experience accumulated while visiting Mobexpert factory, when, in two days, the students had observed the technological flux in furniture production and had analyzed the contracts and financial-accountable documents on which base the firm exports, monthly, furniture summarizing Euro 500.000); the two students teams attend to negotiate a furniture export contract between Mobexpert and an importer from Austria; the total value of the contract is Euro 3 millions, for a 6 months period; the negotiation of the contract text - 35 articles, by organization of an adequate simulation between the two teams, determine the students to adopt conscious decisions, argued on the base of calculation and legislation regarding UE and Romanian foreign trade; moreover, the students will exercise their imagination and intuition, because any simulation of a negotiation is equivalent with a chase game between two players; as result of the adopted decisions, theoretically the trainees will accustom to certain habits in connection with environment and EE principles; and, by:

team discussions;

consulting the teacher;

reasoning/counter reasoning ;

adversarys answer.

Therefore, we emphasise the already mentioned idea that to take into account the EE axiological orientation, on various schooling levels and on various themes / subjects matter, means a complex restriction by its content.

Awareness of the values

The importance level of a value is different from one person to another. What is important for an individual can be insignificant for another. As a rule, the human individuals are conscious by their own value orientations and they act in accordance with them. Yet sometimes the peoples can act according with a value without thinking about it in a conscious manner. Moreover, many of our values dont have developed a firm cognitive base and the presence of a cognitive base could facilitate a lot the values resistance to change.

Some values are well explained and appear to us as phenomenal entities: individuals can express the value and they can identify its borders. Other once is not explicit and, in this case, some value criteria can be deduced from the selective individual behaviour.

EE has to start from a set of values with a maximum generality character:

Forestry:

Similarly, the remittance of the EE values have to take place gradually and the trainer will decide in which proportions the teaching subject matter has to reflect:

a)      EE general assessed principles, such as respect for life, limited character of all resources, forest role in global ecological balance, dependence between global/local etc.;

b)      Taking into account various instruments that could facilitate the learning from the student/pupil perspective, meaning the recourse to: practical examples, projects, portfolios, investigations, practical lessons, drawings, computer simulations, visits in the forest areas, contests etc.

For example, among the various forest based theme/discipline, at the high-school/college level, we mention:

Forestry;

Quality management;

Ecology and environment protection;

Lumber exploitation

Hunt and fishing;

Forest law and legislation;

Forests fitting out.

For example, at the Forest Law and legislation, the explanation of some notions delivered by the teacher can take place by study visits, together -professor and students, at the state institutions that are entitled by law to administrate the forests problems in Suceava county; the two institutions that we are referring to are: Forest Department Suceava (FD) and Territorial Inspectorate for Forestry Suceava (TIF) ; the organization of such visits, in connection with certain concepts delivered in class, can be presented as in the following model:

Pragmatic orientation principle

Ecological Education in Forestry involves also subjective finalities, but also action finalities, meaning the development of abilities, skills in order to help the environment effective transformation. Because of that, an EE curriculum should establish the real problems that should be solved, the training needs of the future trainers in order to fulfil the specific objectives.

For the trainee to be motivated in order to involve in environmental positive transformation actions, it is necessary the trainers to respect certain conditions, as following:

To create a positive, relaxant environment to stimulate the trainees to involve in environment rehabilitation actions;

To respect the values of these, even if they are not conform with the objectives of the environment relative education; moreover, the initiatives to change them are destined to fail if they are not motivated by the trainee wish to change;

To propose some attractive actions for trainees, that can be solved by them;

To activate the trainees in order to solve some problems that involve abilities, leading, through sustainable practice, to specific skills and abilities formation.

FORESTRY

Interdisciplinarity principle

Many trainers attach the Environment Education by the scientific education exclusively. Although an important part of the EE is focus on understanding the scientific concepts, it also involves an understanding of the economy, mathematics, geography, ethic, policies, and other study objects.

So, the ecological education represent a domain that involves many links between the sciences (biology, physic, chemistry, geography, psychology, sociology), between social sectors (education, economy, industry, health). Without any data from these bodies/structures the environment education could not be possible. The Curriculum recommended for the EE starts from the objectives and themes that are found in many disciplines. It is recommended minimal and systematic correlations, realised not only between connected domains, such as nature sciences, but also identification of the links between the EE and other disciplines (drawing, music, literature). Taking this into account, maybe we should put good use on the multiple intelligence theory.

On the other hand, the interdisciplinarity can be realised under two aspects: regarding the content drawn up and regarding the projection and organisation of the didactic processes.

Observing the interdisciplinary nature of the EE imposes the fact that every discipline included in the education plan should take into account the disciplines connected to it, starting with the moment of the discipline structuring (when the chapters are established in order to be delivered/teach).

FORESTRY

Observing the interdisciplinary nature of the EE imposes the fact that for each discipline included in the education plan, if there are various connections with other disciplines, the didactic process organisation should be attractive and should take into account the interdisciplinary nature:

For example, in the Forestry domain, at Forest Organisation/Arrangement discipline, for the theme Type of tree in Bucovina, the interdisciplinary nature of the theme results from the necessary connection with other disciplines:

Topography;

Pedology; 

Plants physiology;

Phytopathology

The didactic process organization for the mentioned theme can include the presentation of the course with video-projector, the trainer being focused on two main objectives:

To underline the role of the forest in the ecological balance at local/global level, the direct impact of the forests in application of the sustainable development concept;

To inform the students, using the video images, graphical representations, pictures and movies also, about the land clearing in Suceava county in the last decade, and about the effect of the inundation in the forestry area, and the fire in wooded areas.

Experiential education/learning principle

This principle involves the individual to experiment some situations that could lead to instructive aspects that could be useful in the daily life experience. Can be used successfully in EE, taking into account the fact that this type of educations involves, not only gaining knowledge in this domain, but also changing attitudes, forming a life-style, civic spirit development and so on.

The learning experience can be positive or negative; the role of the trainer is to facilitate experimentation as often as possible, of certain positive learning situations, the trainees living intensively the success satisfaction that will determine the impulse to move on.

The advantage of experimental learning is that it will lead to gain of skills, behaviours, abilities, in a relatively short period, such as: critical thinking, organisation and planning capacity, the capacity to develop relationship with the others, a.s.o., to a fast identification of the information regarding the learning situations and the connections between them.

Suggestions:

Train the trainers program for experiential learning in Forestry:

Experiential learning needs to respect three major steps/stages: planning, execution and evaluation. The advantage is that it can change behaviours sustainably. The activities proposed for experimentation develop the self confidence, the responsibility, contribute to the knowledge improvement and at own limits enlargement, and, through reflection and transfer, can determine also behavioural changes.

Training objectives for experiential learning

Intra and inter personal abilities development, such as: communication abilities, reflection capacity, emotional express abilities.

Team working competences development, taking decisions, solving problems, management, conflict management, dynamics and so on.

Formation of the training design development competences; training implementation and experiential learning activities evaluation.

Capacity of the training needs identification; audience understanding; selection of the training methods; content selection.

In order to respect the experiential learning principle in EE, we observe that just some specific discipline include in their structure themes/chapters that can facilitate the gaining of knowledge through experimentation:

FORESTRY

1.5. Updating and curriculum development principle

It is referring to the redact, extension and sustainable adaptation of the contents, methodologies for the EE. The EE issue is expending continuously, and the tools offered for its sustainability should be also improved.

The principles referring to the nature of curriculum are: philosophical orientation, individualisation principle, realism principle and balance principle. (Cucos C., 2002).

The principle for curriculum development are: collaboration principle, evaluation principle, assurance and testing principle (Cucos C.,2002). For example, in domain than we are referring, we mention:

FORESTRY

II. Nonformal Ecological Education on Forestry in Suceava county

At the Suceava County level (Romania) there are a number of governmental bodies with specific responsibilities in environment and natural patrimony conservation issues, among which:[2]

National Agency of Environmental Protection Suceava (NAEP Suceava)

Environmental Guard Suceava (EG);

National Administration of the Forest (WAF), through the Suceava Forest Division (FD Suceava);

Territorial Survey Agency of Forest and Animals (TSAFA).

Suceava County Council;

Suceava County Prefecture

The Mayoralties of 7 cities and 120 localities.

National Agency of Environmental Protection (NAEP Suceava)

The National Agency of Environmental Protection Suceava, about 50 employees, is a body part of the Environment and Water Management Ministry (EWMM), subordinated to the National Agency of Environmental Protection NAEP Bacau; NAEP Bacau has a middle level on the chain between the Government and the County agencies; at the Suceava County level, the population summarize 700 thousand persons, the State administration includes 7 big cities and 120 localities. The position of this Governmental body for Suceava County is presented as following:

The main responsibilities for NAEP Suceava consists in the implementation of the EU acquis regarding the environmental protection within Suceava County; it is about the entire juridical frame concerning the environmental protection, rules that are already adopted by Romania. The main pollution sources for the environment, in Suceava County, are:

Wood and paper industry, domain in which there are a big number of wood, furniture, cellulose, paper, and other wood-based elements producers;

Energetic industry, 90% meaning Termica Inc. Suceava, that generates about 30 thousands of tones of slag and ashes per year, even if it was modernized (from 230 thousands tone/year before);

Mining industry, that had and still has some important exploitation subsidiarities at Iacobeni, Ostra, Fundu Moldovei, Crucea, Cacica, Pojorata si Frasin; part of those exploitations have been closed and there is a need of millions Euro funds for conservation and ecological maintenance;

Food Industry, represented in tenth of the Countys localities (domains: milk, meat, alcohol, bear etc.); annually it generates about 50.000 tones of waste;

Textile industry, represented in 4 cities of the county (confection + footwear); annually it generates about 1500 tones of waste, from which 57% are recyclable;

Agriculture and animal husbandry are presented in all over the county (45% from the population is rural); the domain mentioned generated in 2005, about 6000 tones of specific waste.

Municipality management in the main 7 cities of the county generate specific waste (glass, plastic, paper, garbage etc.) and mud also at the cleaning stations for the consuming water; all these waste are estimated to be 200.000 tones/year, being essential the collection, transportation, storage and recycle activities, at EU practice level.

Regarding the city waste storage it should be taken into account Utilities and Environment Suceava County Program that is carried out and the fact that Suceava county obtained some terms of transition until the accomplishment of the EU standards.

Source: NAEP Suceava Reports

Among other responsibilities included in NAEP Suceava there is the one concerning the authorization of some companies regarding the accomplishment of the environment protection standards (environment license). In Suceava County exists about 12000 companies, with activities in the industries that we have mention above, each one having the obligation to obtain the environment license from NAEP Suceava. Because of the more severe environmental juridical frame, in attempting of EU acquis implementation, beginning with 1995 all the companies from Suceava County become interested of the European standards and practice concerning environmental protection. Step by step, the companies and other institutions begin to allocate substantial funds, for investments regarding environmental protection, also from own sources and from winning EU financing programs (Phare, Sapard, ISPA funds aso). For example, only for 2005 the total investments for environment protection in Suceava County is presented below:

- mil Euro -

Source: NAEP Suceava Reports; from the total amount of 11,2 mil. Euro invested by the Suceava County Council, 95% are for the Utilities and Environment project, financed from foreign credits.

The graphic representation for the financing sources is:

Environmental Guard Suceava

The Environmental Guard Suceava (EG) has about 30 employees, and it is part of Ministry of Environment and Water Management (MEWM), on top level relations with 6 counties from North-Eastern Romania. The level of this Governmental body for Suceava County is presented as following:

The main duties of the Environmental Guard are:

To control the economic activities with the impact on the environment and to emit fares in case of breaking the law;

To control the investments in the environmental domain, in every stage of implementation;

To propose to the states institutions the cancel of the environmental license (in relationship with NAEP for the Environmental License);

To notice any fact that consist in breaking the law in the environmental protection issue, to apply fares and/or to notice the General Attorneys;

To enforce the law in protected areas matters, natural parks, natural reserves, for flowers, animals and water-cultures inclusively.

Among the main activities, specific to the Environmental Guard for 2005, we mention the stop of the accidentally pollution of the environment in North-Eastern Romania:

- Suceava County: in May 2005 have been polluted the Brateasa river, by the mining exploitation from Tarnita; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

- Bacau County: the accidentally pollution with fuel products of the Trotus river in July 2005; the pollution with ammoniac of Bacau in September 2005; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

- Botosani County: the accidentally pollution with oil-based products in Botosani Municipality; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

- Iasi County: the pollution with used waters of Nicolina river in March 2005 by Fortus Company; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

- Neamt County: the pollution of the Ciurlacu river in June 2005 by the Mittal Steel Roman Company; in November 2005 a car accident determined the oil cistern to turn heels over head; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

- Vaslui County: the pollution due to an explosion, followed by a fire of a tank with achetic acid with major accidentally potential; the affected environmental factor was the air, but also the water; the intervention was to stop that process and to apply demanded fares;

Synthetic, for 2005 the pollutions that the environment guard Suceava noted are:

Source: Environment Guard Suceava Reports

National Forest Administration Suceava Forest Division (FD Suceava)

National Forest Administration Romsilva (NFA) is being coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Rural Development (MAFRD) and its attribution is public service in the forest domain; Suceava Forest Division has the goal to unitary manage, in accordance with forest administration of forest public property domain of the state, in order to increase the contribution of the forest to environmental conditions improvement; also has the goal to offer consulting in matters such as the forest private property domain administration.

The chart flow of the Suceava Forest Division, institution that has about 400 employees, is presented below:

At Suceava County level, about 52% from the total surface, meaning 435 thousands hectares represent forest domain, the juridical sharing being the following:

18 thousands hectares private property;

38 thousands hectares public institutions;

379 thousands hectares state ownership (NFA).

Suceava Territorial Survey Agency of Forest and Animals (Suceava TSAFA)

Suceava Territorial Survey Agency of Forest and Animals is an institution subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Rural Development and it is technically coordinated by the specific directions inside of the Ministry.

The main duties of Suceava Territorial Survey Agency of Forest and Animals, on domains, are in forest and hunting activities management and in forest domain and hunting activities control. Regarding the forest and hunting activities management: the development strategy of the forest, forest vegetation fields accountancy, forest clearing accountancy, the approval for projection/execution works for afforestation, re-afforestation, maintenance of the forest crop; to supply with specific consulting to the forest owners.

At the national level there are 9 Territorial Survey Agency of Forest and Animals, TSAFA Suceava having subordinated the following counties with proper surfaces of forest:

Suceava 435 thousands hectares

Bacau 267,5 thousands hectares

Neamt 259 thousands hectares

Iasi 97 thousands hectares

Botosani 56 thousands hectares

We can note that there are two governmental institutions with complementary attributions, both subordinated to Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Rural Development.

Taking into account the Suceava County specific, that 52% of the territory surface is forest domain and that 45% of population lives in rural area (315 thousand persons from a total of 700 thousands), we consider that the coherent strategies concerning environmental issue in this county should take into consideration the position of the two mentioned above institutions:

Final remarks

For Romania, the estimations at 2007 year, shows that the environmental investments implies a total volume of financial resources summarizing about 29 billions Euro for the next 9 or 10 years; the structure of the necessary investments or environmental costs are presented synthetic as following (billions Euro):

In order to invest in environmental matters over the next decade, aspect that if it is done could have an significant cohesion on environmental protection issues in Romania, the realistic appreciation shows up that various companies and institutions, directly involved in environmental cost payments, could count on the following financing sources:

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