Bulgaria hosted the 18th Forest Pedagogy Congress

Friday, September 13 , 2024 1021

The 18th Forest Pedagogy Congress took place in Bulgaria from 2 to 5 of September 2024.

The forum gathered more than 120 forest pedagogues from Austria, Slovakia, Norway, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Bolivia, Finland, Israel, Romania, Bulgaria.

The event was opened by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr. Miroslav Marinov, who emphasized that forest pedagogy is the most effective and affordable way to restore the relationship between society and nature.

The theme of the international forum was "European forests stressed by fires, drought and storms - a challenge for Forest Pedagogy".

The executive director of the Forestry Executive Agency welcomed the participants in the meeting, defining the topic of the discussions as extremely relevant, and forestry pedagogy the best prevention for the protection of forests from fires and other natural disasters. "The fact that we are the hosts of the 18th Forest Pedagogy Congress is a proof of the achieved results and evaluation of the efforts of forest educators, who for more than 15 years have turned working with children into a part of the forestry work and the most reliable prevention for conservation of forests and their good management".

The official opening was attended also by the Rector of the Forestry University Assoc. Dr. Hristo Mihailov, the director of the Institute for the Forest Art. cor. Georgi Georgiev, the chairman of the Union of Foresters in Bulgaria Prof. Dr. Ivan Paligorov, the chairman of NLRS-SLRB Eng. Vasil Vasilev and others. The vice President of UEF - Anna Petrakieva was also took active participation in the Congress.

The second congress day of the work of forest educators continued in discussion groups.

Foresters looked at different elements in the communication process, solved potential cases and looked for the right possible solutions, discussed the resources and tools they needed, and communication channels to be used.

According to experts, the forestry profession and activities in forests are extremely specific and people do not always understand what they consist of and why they are important. Therefore, the main partners in the process of communication with the public are the media, and in the work with the children, parents and teachers, the forest pedagogues are categorical.

UEF Presidency