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The Biltmore Forest School, despite its unusual existence within the affluent Biltmore Estate, played a crucial role in the early 20th-century American forestry movement. Founded by Carl A. Schenck and supported by George Vanderbilt II, the school aimed to educate foresters and promote sustainable forest management. However, many aspects of the Biltmore experiment failed due to the new and untested nature of forestry science in America. This experiment exposed a fundamental divide in forestry education, with Gifford Pinchot advocating for conservation-centered teaching while Schenck believed in the economic viability of lumber production. Ultimately, the Biltmore Forest School offered valuable vocational education for young men but could not address the broader goals of forestry education. The emergence of other forestry schools in the early 20th century led to the school's demise. The larger purpose of forestry education was rooted in scientific forestry, focusing on profitable production, renewable yield, and forest improvement, principles echoed in modern forest conservation efforts. The Biltmore Forest School closed in 1914 due to low enrollment. That same year, George Vanderbilt died. His widow Edith eventually sold the forest, which grew to 500,000 acres, to the United States Forest Service. Edith Vanderbilt's vision of private forest land as a public trust contributed to the establishment of Pisgah National Forest, preserving the pioneering work of Vanderbilt, Schenck, and Pinchot in forest conservation for the benefit of the American people.

The article describes a participatory segmentation strategy, called the Actor Diagramming and Tracing Method, that enables Extension agents to tailor education initiatives. Using a case study, the authors demonstrate the method by segmenting North Carolina family forest landowners based on resources needed for sustainable forestry management. Instead of surveying select participants, as previous researchers have, the authors engage a diverse set of stakeholders through interviews, in-situ observations, and diagramming. Three segments emerged with explicit steps to engaging forest owners' barriers and motivations, as well as a key factor to adoption of sustainable forestry practices: owners' relationships/social networks.

Online learning has become an important advance in education in the last decade. We developed an online learning system related to land and tree measurements. University students were given pre- and postexposure surveys for two courses offered within the online system. Surveys were designed to assess whether the knowledge level and confidence of students increased through interaction with the online system. A final assessment was conducted to understand user experiences with the online technology. Statistically significant increases in knowledge and confidence concerning land measurement concepts and tree measurement topics were evident among survey participants. Survey participants agreed that the course functioned properly, that graphics and images within the courses were useful, and that using the system prior to in-person instruction helped students better understand concepts.

The Women Owning Woodlands Network was launched in 2005 as a way to provide collaborative and hands-on peer learning education to women who felt uncomfortable participating in traditional Extension programs. Since its inception the program has grown to provide education and resources for over 300 women. We surveyed these women to identify if the program continues to meet their needs. It is evident that WOWNet has continued to be an important part of OSU FNR's outreach education program and continues to meet the needs of a historically undeserved group of landowners in ways that traditional programming does not.

Employability is a measure of the effectiveness of an academic program in the quality of its graduates. However, insufficient data on employability of forestry graduates are still observed, particularly in northern Philippines. Hence, the study aimed to trace the employment of BS Forestry (BSF) graduates in DMMMSU from 2015 to 2022. The study used descriptive research design to describe the BSF graduates' socio-demographic characteristics, educational background, and initial employment profile. Survey was employed as data collection method, and quantitative techniques were used for analysis. Results revealed that majority of graduates were female and had been awarded college scholarships; some graduated with honours and awards. Majority were licensed foresters, while very few had other professional eligibilities. Most were employed at least once after graduation and were professional contractual employees of companies, mainly in agriculture, hunting, and forestry. Salaries and benefits were the primary reason for acceptance of jobs, while most secured forestry-related jobs within six months after their graduation. The gross monthly income for a great majority of the initial forestry-related jobs reported was less than PhP 15,000.00. Most employed graduates agreed that their program and curriculum were related and relevant to their jobs. However, regular updating of curriculum and instruction is the major suggestion of graduates to improve the program. The likelihood of gaining employment after graduation significantly increases when school support services are provided for career and job placement. Honours and awards in college were seen to be significant factors contributing to the employability of forestry graduates.

Issues about climate change and its mitigation are crucial around the world. Universities play a vital role in addressing climate change by educating students on protecting and preserving the environment. Literary works and stories about the environment are texts to educate students in environmental care. This study explored students' attitudes toward caring for the environment through digital short stories. A mixed method with an explanatory sequential design was used in the study. Questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. The sample of this research is students at the Indonesian language and literature study program Universitas Negeri Makassar, Indonesia (N=60). The research results show that students acquire constructive mindsets toward environmental care from the digital short stories presented to them, particularly concerning the negative impacts of deforestation, as indicated by their support for tree planting and replanting. The findings of this study implied that using digital environmental short stories inspires the establishment of attitudes that aid in mitigating climate change.

Concerned with the ongoing youth mental crisis in the United States, researchers intentionally planned for positive youth development (PYD) practices in nature. Educators, appreciating the critical importance of youth developing relationships and a sense of belonging, may regard this model as a powerful tool to enhance existing programs. Both youth and parents report this as ahigh quality PYD program, resulting in thriving youth. Youth participants feel welcome, supportively challenged, and passionate about the topic; resulting in a growth mindset, hopeful purpose, and openness to challenge and discovery. The program inspired an affinity for nature in both youth participants and associated adults. 97% of youth and 95% of adult caregivers report being inspired to spend more time in nature as a result of the program. The program also inspired increased youth interest in science college and career opportunities.

The professional work of today's agricultural and forestry engineers is changing dramatically under the impact of the 4th industrial revolution. In that context, the competence to apply information technology (IT) is one of the core and significant competencies. Therefore, in order for training products to meet the needs of society, one of the problems that training facility for agriculture and forestry industry need to solve is to clearly identify the basic requirements for agro-forestry graduates to meet the basic requirements of IT application competence. Based on theoretical and practical research on the IT application competence of each job position and the trend of employment change in the 4.0 period, the article presents the levels of IT application competence in the agro-forestry industry. On the basis of test results and opinions of experts and employers, the article has proposed the components and required levels of IT application competence for agro-forestry students. The research results, in addition to providing information on the current state of students' IT application competence, are also a good reference source for agro-forestry training institutions to set learning outcomes, develop training programs, and innovate new training methods to promptly provide high-quality human resources for the agroforestry industry in the context of the 4th industrial revolution.

Female forest landowners (FFLO) are increasing in numbers but have been marginalized in technical training programs in the past. We conducted chainsaw safety training programs geared towards FFLO and compared program evaluation results with results from male-dominated chainsaw training workshops. FFLO are limited in their technical knowledge at the beginning of a workshop, are more likely to own different types of chainsaws than male participants, and generally liked having a women-only workshop. The takeaway is that FFLO strive in a women-only environment and that more women-focused extension training programs are needed to provide with a safe and inclusive learning environment.

The Washington State University Extension Forestry program switched to all online programming in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 2,000 people participated in our webinars, providing an opportunity to survey a large audience about their webinar preferences. We found that people prefer webinars that are approximately an hour long and offered in the evening or late morning. Participants placed high importance on having a recording available, but they had mixed views on including video of the instructor speaking. Participants found online delivery to be successful and had a strong preference for online programming in the future.

The Brazilian Amazon is at the very core of current economic disputes driven by different versions of capitalism, which have determined a history of environmental devastation, and commercial and environmental exploitation. Accordingly, we thought about elaborating a study based on the following research aims: getting to know the environments' social representations and the Environmental Education giving meaning to environmental governance concepts, in the context of Pará State's Amazon. In methodological terms, this research was substantiated by the Theory of Social Representations, based on the ethnographic approach. It counted on the collaboration of 121 teachers trained in Pedagogy who work in municipal public schools in Castanhal City--Pará State. We used questionnaire, focus groups and participatory observation to collect data. Based on the main results, the environment's social representations and the Environmental Education elaborated by teachers provided powerful elements for natures' defense aimed at environmental awareness and citizenship participation in decision-making processes. Due to an adverse environmental scenario--of nature's commercialization and aggressive exploitation--the herein approached representations can help the population to redefine its history and, simultaneously, to set environmental governance processes to preserve the forest and the life of local communities.

In an immersive virtual reality (IVR) environment, this study investigated: (1) the role of learner characteristics in various learning and psychological outcomes, including knowledge retention, perceived learning, cognitive load, self-efficacy, enjoyment, presence, and usefulness; and (2) the relationship among these intended outcomes. Forty adult participants experienced an IVR nature trail tour involving science learning topics, followed by a knowledge test and multiple surveys. Multivariate analysis of covariance results indicated age by gender interaction effects on perceived presence and usefulness as well as an age by IVR prior experience interaction effect on perceived presence. Additionally, multiple correlational relationships were detected among the intended outcomes. This study contributes to the limited research on the role of learner characteristics in STEM learning and psychological outcomes in IVR environments.

This paper argues that the teaching of art in Higher Educational Institutions is inherently paradoxical. Informed by the transgressive and interdisciplinary qualities of contemporary artistic practices, education nevertheless is often made to fit into a reductionist, outcome-oriented and individualistic discourse. Taking a weeklong workshop at the Nida Art Colony in Lithuania as a practical axis for its reflections on the fluid nature of art education, the paper discusses possibilities of extending beyond pedagogical, political, human/nonhuman and other borders and treating 'noise' and other 'interferences' as opportunities for transgression and dialogue. This workshop with students from the Vilnius Academy of Arts took place in September 2022, at a time characterised by the Russia-Ukraine war. Nida's proximity to Russia's exclave Kaliningrad, its location on the narrow Curonian Spit, and its immediate environment characterised by woods and sand dunes provide this paper with a setting for a discussion about a variety of borders: territorial borders, border pedagogies, perceived borders between human and nonhuman entities, between land and sea, and so on. Borders are described as dominant indicators of power and distinction, while educational standards and instruments of measurement often replicate similar distinctions between the known and the unfamiliar. Yet, borders can also be shifted while new connections and dialogues across real and conceptual borders can be forged in a porous process that is predisposed towards flexible scenarios characterised by the 'not-yet'. The surrounding forest and wetlands and huge drifting sand dunes in Nida become analogies for the changing structure of the workshop, silently yet overpoweringly advocating for a mutable pedagogy. Analysed through the work of various contemporary artists, this nonhuman intrusion into a pedagogical and creative experience is both undefined and vulnerable, unlike the preordained structures of attainment targets often associated with contemporary schooling.

This paper responds directly to the question, how do we communicate our philosophy of art education? It does this by drawing upon previous research with "House of Imagination, School Without Walls" and doctoral research exploring children's learning identity as artists, to illuminate a philosophical approach to art education and its pedagogy that highlights both human and more-than-human dimensions of learning in communities of practice involving artists, researchers and educators working alongside children and young people where spaces of possibility for practice and innovation emerge. The paper focuses particularly on current and creative research in the "Forest of Imagination," a long-term participatory contemporary arts and architecture event in Bath, UK. "Forest of Imagination" offers an alternative, creative approach to learning, focusing on ecological imagination and nature connection. As a new aesthetic imaginary, the Forest of Imagination is a living, breathing art classroom, inspiring curiosity, imagination and a deeper connection with the natural world.

While Indigenous knowledges have long recognised forests as sentient and caring societies, western sciences have only acknowledged that trees communicate, learn and care for one another in recent years. These different ways of coming to know and engage with trees as sentient agents are further complicated by the introduction of digital technologies and automated decision-making into forest ecosystems. This article considers this confluence of forest sentience and digital technologies through a "pedagogy and ethic of immanent care" as a relational framework for analysis and praxis in environmental education. The authors apply this framework to three key examples along Birrarung Marr, an ancient gathering place and urban parklands in the city of Naarm (Melbourne). These include an immersive theatre-making project exploring forest communication networks with young children; the Melbourne Urban Forest data set, which hosts digital profiles for over 70,000 trees; and the Greenline masterplan which aims to revitalise the north bank of the Birrarung over the next five years. Exploring the ethical and pedagogical contours of these examples leads to propositions for rethinking the role of environmental education in navigating the current confluence of animal, vegetal, fungal and digital life.

The Australian Outdoor Health (OH) sector provides diverse practices that support an interconnected human and ecological approach to health and wellbeing. There is an urgent need for the OH sector to develop a comprehensive ethical practice framework, to enable professional recognition and other initiatives to progress. This would bring the sector in line with similar health and wellbeing occupations including social work, psychology, and counselling that have established professional recognition. A key feature of professional recognition is the acceptance of a Code of Ethics or Ethical Framework to guide practice and enhance standing in the field. This scoping review of the literature is undertaken to aid in developing an OH ethical practice framework. Findings suggest the framework should incorporate two overarching themes of beneficence and nonmaleficence, and contain six guiding principles: diversity, equity, advocacy, justice, accountability, and competence. We discuss these findings, situate them within broader OH community and health sector discourses, and make recommendations for establishing an Australian ethical practice framework to assist the move towards professional recognition and drive ethical OH practice.

Addressing human-made environmental problems such as deforestation is an ongoing educational challenge. Promising educational approaches include cooperative decision-making and attempt via a high level of motivation to promote pro-environmental behaviors. Knowledge about the forest ecosystem, including its threats, is supposed to strengthen responsibilities and individual behavioral preferences. The "Save the Forests!" module engages students in hands-on learning activities under the frame of an educational Escape Game (Edu Breakout). Based on nine workstations, it includes various cooperative activities focusing on the forest ecosystem, its ecosystem services, and common tree species. Students realize advantages of recycling, gain insight into paper production and associated resource consumption, compare eco-labels for sustainable paper products, and reflect on consumer decisions. Additionally, the students learn about habitat situations after clear-cutting, forest fires, or storm damages (succession), including strategies for dealing with deadwood based on scientific data. Besides experiments and challenging tasks, students learn about the ecological footprint and greenwashing by clarifying often-used terms in sustainability contexts. In an accompanied quantitative study approach, students participating in the learning module significantly increased their knowledge scores in a pre-post comparison (n = 135, p < 0.001, d = 0.58).

The teaching and learning of design technology that occurs in nature-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts such as nature kindergartens remains under-theorised. There is a growing body of scholarship that describes how teaching and learning occurs in these contexts as well as highlighting the benefits for young children learning in the natural environment. Recently, in the perspective of the Australian ECEC sector, how students experience design technology in nature-based contexts (bush kinders, an adaption of the European forest school approach to ECEC) was reported on. Despite design technology being accounted for in bush kinders as part of play-based learning of STEM, assessment of how this learning is supporting student's comprehension of design technology remains an area for further attention. Often, educators rely solely on observations and anecdotal note taking for assessment which points to a need to support teachers with more rigorous assessment models. This paper adapts an assessment model for science learning and reconsiders it in terms of design technology teaching and learning. The paper's aim is to support educators to develop children's deeper understandings of design technology and make learning meaningful in nature-based education settings. Using vignettes, the children's learning of design technology available in natural surroundings is analysed. This paper proposes that bush kinders are a valuable context for teaching and learning as they allow educators to develop skills to assess children's design technology knowledge. The analysis of the data and its consideration against one play-based learning assessment model is also valuable in generating a broader narrative that deepens insights into the teaching and learning experience of design technology education in early childhood nature-based contexts.

This research builds on the recently published paper (Garden, 2022c), which explored through interviews the use of iPads as cameras to enhance Forest School practice. Children's perspectives of the Forest School space captured what was important to them on camera (Garden, 2022c). Working with the same group of 32 Key Stage 2 children selected from two UK primary schools, the research explored the images captured on iPad cameras during the follow-on session. The unstructured interviews explored the children's feelings and meanings associated with the images captured in the Forest School space using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The photographs can be understood within the themes of 'play with technology', 'soft fascination' and 'place attachment', all of which are inherent in the Forest School ethos. Suggestions for future research include reflections on the ways the capturing of images of Forest School can encourage peer collaboration whilst considering the relative influence of space.

Forest landowners are an important target audience for many state Extension programs. Acknowledging the differences and associations between landownership values, characteristics, and educational preferences of forest landowners should lead to improvement of educational programs and ensuring that educational needs are being met. Through an internet-based survey of forest landowners four distinct landowner typologies were identified based on respondents' reason for owning forestland. Results also identified the educational needs and barriers to meeting these needs for the landowners. Creating typologies based on attitudinal responses will allow for a more focused approach to developing educational products and services to meet landowner needs.

Continuous professional development is critical for Extension staff, and many agriculture-focused Extension employees are tasked with outreach related to a wide variety of natural resource topics. The purpose of this study is to help prioritize trainings needed by Kansas Extension agents and specialists based on their current level of knowledge and interest in staying up to date on 18 different natural resource topics. Responses to a statewide survey were analyzed using the Borich model. Results indicate priority professional development needs related to soil health; effects of climate; invasive species, harmful algal blooms; and groundwater, surface water, and air quality.

Forest school and nature-based pedagogy have grown in popularity in recent years. Previously, I examined the perspectives of parents who chose to enrol their children within these programs to learn and understand why. As I furthered my studies, I became concerned about how these forest and nature schools connect to Indigenous ways of knowing, teaching, and learning, as many claim. I wanted to examine how Forest school pedagogy and Indigenous perspectives of education may connect or not, and how these land-based pedagogies intertwine with Indigenous perspectives of land as first teacher. This work is a storying of my educational journey about land-based pedagogy, environmental education for children and how children are viewed within nature. The aim of this story is to ask what might happen when Forest pedagogies, Indigenous peoples, and their epistemologies and ontologies are assembled? The secondary purpose is to ignite pedagogical conversations amongst educators and inform about Forest School programs and how they connect to Indigenous perspectives or do not connect at all.

In this paper, we draw upon a narrative inquiry alongside two creators of an out-of-doors Nipugtugewei Kindergarten program within a Mi'gmaw community, in northeastern Canada. Our intention was to understand their schooling, educational, and communal experiences over time. Diverse field texts were composed and interpreted alongside participants. We turned towards narrative conceptions of knowledge to show how attending to teachers' personal practical knowledge and stories to live by on their professional knowledge landscape is sustaining who they are as teachers and people. It is also a way for teachers to live their responsibility to Indigenous communities and students.

In recent years there have been several studies reviewing the benefits and challenges of open pedagogy projects for student engagement and learning. This study adds to that literature by reporting on a survey of students who wrote case studies in three courses in forestry and conservation studies, most of whom agreed to publish publicly and with a Creative Commons license. Our results indicate that many students felt more motivated and engaged in the open pedagogy assignments compared to traditional assignments. Many also reported putting more effort into their assignment to ensure its accuracy and usefulness to others. In addition to improved understanding of copyright and citation practices, students learned how to translate knowledge for a broader audience and demonstrated an increased awareness of scholarly integrity. Still, a number of students reported increased stress with this assignment. We conclude with some recommendations to support students in such projects while reducing stress.

Currently, nations grapple with a noticeable shortage of STEM talent, particularly within fields like agroforestry. The study applied the structural equation modelling and the mediation effect model to analyze the mechanisms through which STEM value perception influences STEM career preferences, as well as the roles played by STEM self-efficacy and STEM learning interest among 1,604 undergraduates majoring in agroforestry. The results revealed that students' STEM value perception was found to directly and positively correlate with their STEM career preferences. STEM value perception also has an indirect impact on STEM career preferences by influencing STEM learning interest and STEM self-efficacy. Furthermore, STEM value perception plays a sequential mediation role in promoting STEM learning interest, STEM self-efficacy and STEM career preferences. Based on these findings, it is recommended that institutions bolster STEM career education for students majoring in agroforestry from the outset of their enrollment, enhancing students' professional awareness and identity, by addressing gaps in students' value perceptions of STEM education. Furthermore, efforts to improve students' interest in relevant courses and their confidence in learning these subjects can be beneficial. Ultimately, such initiatives can contribute to a more balanced development of students' STEM career preference.

This study aims to analyze the identity components of graduates from the Faculty of Forestry at Kasetsart University using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Two sample groups were involved: Group 1 (400 individuals) for exploratory factor analysis and Group 2 (710 individuals) for confirmatory factor analysis. Both groups responded to a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis results showed a strong Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of .930 and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity with a chi-square value of 10437.275, 1770 degrees of freedom, and a significance level of .0001. Nine identity components were identified through factor rotation using the Varimax method: teamwork, commitment to task completion, application of knowledge, integrity towards oneself and others, adaptability to the environment, humility, willingness to help and share, non-egoism, and perseverance. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a good fit of the model to the observed data, indicated by indices such as p = 0.148, X[superscript 2]/df = 1.314, RMSEA = 0.02, GFI = 0.991, AGFI = 0.98, CFI = 0.998, and RMR = 0.097. Notably, "teamwork" had the highest standardized weight of 0.825, followed by "willingness to help and share" (0.749) and "commitment to task completion" (0.739). The standardized weights ranged from 0.825 to 0.636. All variables had statistically significant p-values, and the coefficients of determination (R[superscript 2]) ranged from 0.680 to 0.405 when measured by Square Multiple Correlation.

This study articulates the concepts of sustainability and work safety to understand how safe working practices enable knowledge in the practice of sustainability. Anchored in the lenses of the learning process of practiced-based studies, we conducted a case study of qualitative nature in a forest harvest operation of a Brazilian company with sustainability in the core of its business strategy. We adopted as collection tools in-depth observation, semi-structured interview, and documental research, which were assessed by the thematic analysis of narratives. As results, we identified that the learning process of sustainability occurs in this context in a combination of institutional mechanisms and practices located at the occupational communities. Among those, the safe working practices indicate being capable of enabling the knowledge in practice of the systemic and integrative perspective, carefulness, responsibility, and look to the future, reflecting the assumptions contained in the ideal of sustainability. We also verified that, with the practices, this group has been establishing alliances, building common concepts, and producing and reproducing practices that change the way of learning sustainability.

This study examines the potential effect of service-learning training on 38 EFL teachers from the public schools of the North-Eastern Badia Directorate of Education, Mafraq, Jordan. A quasi-experimental design was used, and the participants were randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=18) and a control group (n=20). As part of the treatment, the participants of the experimental group were asked to serve their community through collecting paper waste, recycling, and planting trees. They were then asked to videotape their activities to use them in their writing tasks in the classroom. The control group did not receive any treatment and taught the writing tasks per the guidelines of the prescribed Teacher's Book. The findings revealed statistically significant differences in the overall writing performance of both the experimental and control groups, in favor of the former. The findings also revealed that the use of service-learning training helped teachers form positive attitudes towards EFL writing.

Early childhood is an important time for building children's affinity with nature and the environment. Early childhood professionals play a crucial role in developing young children's understanding of the natural world. Over the past 50 years, there has been a movement in early childhood education and care contexts to provide young children with the opportunity to learn in natural surroundings such as forest schools and nature kindergartens. This research, occurred in four bush kinders, an Australian example of nature-based, early years education influenced by the forest school approach to education. In this paper we interrogate key ideas concerning environmental education, drawing on seminal empirical research, guiding curriculum documents such as Australia's Early Years Learning Framework and government policy documents to build understandings of how children's play can be observed by educators who can then support the children to develop their understandings of the natural world around them. Through ethnography, a methodology that uses both participation and observation of research participants, it became apparent that young children's play-based learning offers opportunities for development of understandings of the environment. Applying a recent definition of environmental education from the US Environmental Protection Authority (2022), we analysed four vignettes which provide examples of educators and children's interactions supporting children to build an affinity with nature observed during the research. This research's implications are novel when considering the relatively new bush kinder approach to early childhood education as the findings remind us of the benefits of bush kinders in generating opportunities for young children's environmental education.

Forest school is a pedagogical practice widely used in the U.K., and increasingly in other parts of the world. This paper contributes to the growing body of research on forest school by focussing on how children engage with and respond to forest school. It draws on practitioners' experience of working with children to examine their perspectives on how children react to forest school. While practitioners felt the majority of children enjoyed forest school, they identified six specific groups of children who benefit. The findings are related to existing research to explore how the learning environment enables children to experience individual learning journeys at forest school.

Partnerships between K-12 educators and people doing climate work in their communities provides opportunities for teachers and students to engage in consequential climate learning that is both culturally situated and locally relevant. This article features several vignettes that highlight examples from various sites across Washington State where science education leaders seeded and cultivated climate learning programs in partnerships with local experts in forestry, ecology, farming, food waste, technology, and environmental justice. Collectively the vignettes offer a diverse image of the "boundary spanning" (Goodrich et al. 2020) and commitments needed to ground climate learning in communities.

This study examines the context in which Irish outdoor ECEC learning is situated and examines insights from outdoor education practitioners. Using a qualitative lens, we look at 'quality' interactions and the scope which outdoor learning offers for impactful teaching and learning. Research was conducted during the first stages of the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020, involving participants who worked in outdoor and forest school settings. The results of this study indicate the major role that the physical environment and the educator play in the construction of quality interactions outdoors, and it examines the potential future growth of outdoor ECEC in Ireland as a result of the pandemic.

In Uganda, limited agricultural extensionists have always hampered the capacity development efforts of farmers, necessitating partnerships with local and international organizations. This study assessed the progress made by the Iowa State University Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) toward ending hunger in Uganda. The CSRL partners with Iowa State University Uganda Program and Makerere University in the capacity development of communities through interrelated livelihood education programs including agronomy, agroforestry, orchards, grain storage, and postharvest programs. We surveyed 454 households, of whom 48.2% had participated in extension education programs during the 2014-2018 assessment period. Primarily, these farmers trained mostly in micronutrient vegetable gardening, field agronomical practices, soils, composting, and postharvest/grain storage, least in land-use planning and marketing. The study found that trained households statistically significantly engaged in sack, keyhole, and kitchen gardening and used tarpaulins while drying crops. The study identified a general increase in trained households who cultivated grain amaranths, soybeans, common beans, high-iron beans, and groundnuts, probably due to training and provision of seeds of some crops by the program. Overall, most households engaged in the production of staple foods like sweet potatoes and cassava. Cultivation of cereals, millet, maize, and rice, was reduced between 2014-2017. The major challenges to crop production identified included soil infertility, striga weed infestation, and limited land (average of 3.54 acres). For sustainability, improving the monitoring implementation of agronomical practices is vital. Communities are encouraged to use the CSRL training centers as a hub for learning the principles of agronomy and postharvest management. These centers employ a mode of knowledge transfer and community empowerment, blending indigenous and scientific knowledge and involving the communities in planning education programs.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the participants' [junior high school students and Master of business administration (MBA) consultants] perceptions and utilizations of the multidimensional place-based resources within the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), specifically focusing on its alignment with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for quality education. While place-based resources have demonstrated the potential for fostering innovative thinking and collaborative efforts, a gap exists in understanding how these resources can be effectively integrated to bolster learning and sustainable outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted a single-case research methodology and conducted an in-depth exploration of the integration of place-based resources within the context of ESD using the 2021 Forest Community Outreach (FCO) Project in Ena City, Japan. Questionnaires, daily journals and consultation reports were used for data collection. This study used the coding and qualitative content analysis process to understand the significance of the five dimensions of place-based resources in fostering effective ESD practices. Findings: The findings show the gap between interest in ESD and utilization of place-based resources as reflected in the perceptions and interests of junior high school participants. MBA consultants acknowledged the relevance of leveraging the five dimensions of place-based resources in the context of ESD. This research enriches the understanding of recognizing and harnessing different resources within the settings, emphasizing the significance of a multidimensional place-based resources approach to effectively incorporate these resources into ESD, thereby fostering learning and practical sustainability outcomes. Originality/value: This study conducts a novel analysis of diverse dimensions within the realm of place-based resources and their profound influence on the learning experiences and creativity of participants engaged in ESD. The study lays the groundwork for the validation of place-based resource dimensions through collaborative efforts involving stakeholders within the region.

Most introductory courses in environmental science are large, lecture-style general education classes. North Carolina State University's ES 100 is no exception, enrolling between 200 and 300 students and holding class meetings in the campus cinema. A key underlying learning objective, however, is to teach students that science is the pathway to discovery. In 2018, I involved my class in a hands-on service-learning project measuring trees on campus. After encountering logistical issues, I engaged students to evaluate and improve our methods. With the help of sustainability and instructional technology grants and expertise, I developed innovative teaching tools and data collection methods to create an enhanced field lab to collect long-term data on more than 100 campus trees. Between 2018 and 2019, students' reflection responses shifted from focusing on processes, like data collection, to more concept- and discovery-themed ideas about urban trees and their health. Further revisions to the project between 2019 and 2020--which mainly included having students use the Tree Benefit Calculator--helped students focus more broadly on the ecosystem services that urban trees provide.

This paper reports on a study carried out by tutors and students on Early Childhood Studies degree courses at a University in England. The research explored perspectives of three to six-year-old children's outdoor play in Danish forest kindergartens with the aim of troubling and informing approaches to outdoor pedagogy. Inspired by Somerville and Powell's 'deep hanging out' ([Somerville, M., and J. Powell. 2018. "Thinking Posthuman with Mud: And Children of the Anthropocene." "Educational Philosophy and Theory" 51 (8): 829--840. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1516138, 1) with data, researchers visited the kindergartens for a full day at a time during annual week-long field visits. This provided opportunities to notice the children's journeys and possibilities over time. Findings showed that, given time and space to play in the forest, children were able to pursue their interests, engage in extended periods of concentration and thinking while working together as they played and explored with each other, with the educators and with the materiality of their surroundings. Implications for practitioners highlight the need to provide uninterrupted time for children to develop their curiosities and enjoyment of the outdoor environment.

Postsecondary science faculty face challenges in balancing the engagement of undergraduates and concomitantly ensuring they gain and retain knowledge, either in standard lectures or labs as well as in outdoor activities. Designing on-campus trails with interpretive signs may provide a unique avenue to inform students across majors of local biodiversity and tie in concepts related to ecology, organismal biology, and conservation. In this article, we evaluate the efficacy of course-specific interpretive signs deployed around a small on-campus natural area to engage first-year students. We assessed students' overall engagement level and retention of information conveyed across specific signs via a student-guided nature walk where students examined signs and answered both a pre- and post-activity survey, rated their favorite sign, and provided a short reflection on this outdoor activity. Students' responses indicated that they retained general information on specific signs, most notably regarding reptiles and what types of mammals are found around campus. Overall, students rated this activity as engaging, with 87.7% combined agreeing or strongly agreeing that signs helped them learn about the biodiversity and ecosystems on campus.

Researchers often point out a wide rift between school culture and students' home culture, especially for Adivasi students whose culture, language and knowledge systems are played down by the mainstream discourse. We believe that such deficit perspectives must be countered to work towards an equal and just society. For this purpose, in this study, we explored the funds of knowledge of Adivasi communities of Central India with regard to forests and conservation. We also examined school textbooks from the standpoint of these communities to understand how connected or disconnected they are to the life-worlds of Adivasi students. The study adopted a participatory design and drew upon the principles of critical ethnography. For data collection, we used a strategic combination of ethnographic observations, informal interactions, focus group discussions, personal interviews and field notes. The findings indicate a strong need for developing learning material that is contextually relevant, meaningful and transformative for students.

Advanced information communication technologies (ICT) offer significant benefits to applied communications, including potential cost reductions, service improvements, and expanded natural resource education in an era of ever-decreasing budgets. Limited guidance exists about how to design and implement virtual reality and augmented reality experiences in environmental spaces but clearly it takes time, expertise, equipment, and iterative feedback with experts and users. Our 18-month collaborative development process used best practices, stakeholder involvement, and multimedia teams to create and test augmented reality and virtual reality visitor education about forest management. Based on this effort, we share challenges, opportunities, and ideas to implement ICT in applied environmental education.

Forest schools are distinctive outdoor spaces that are often regarded as an alternative to mainstream education. Their increasing popularity in the United Kingdom is often attributed to a perceived decrease in children's outdoor play, due to a concomitant increase in children's use of digital technologies in the home; further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores how iPads can enhance outdoor learning activities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 Key Stage 2 children selected from two UK primary schools. The interviews explored the experiences and opinions of the children about the role of iPads in the forest school space using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings suggest that Forest School spaces can accommodate new technologies through accommodation of the outdoor environment and technology. Suggestions for future research include the meaningful integration of iPads into Forest School practice while considering the relative influences of space and place.

Purpose: This study aims to diagnose the perception, knowledge, awareness and position of the bioeconomy in university education and research. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted at universities in Poland, the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal (n = 464). The questionnaire consisted of open-ended, dichotomous and Likert-type questions. Variable frequency distribution methods and the non-parametric chi-square test were used to test the independence of the characteristics. The Cramer's V contingency coefficient was used to determine the degree of dependence between the variables. Findings: The researched academic community is dominated by a traditional approach to the bioeconomy, which relates to agriculture and ecological aspects. Respondents believe in the positive environmental impacts of the bioeconomy, while less often being aware of its importance from a socio-economic perspective. Insufficient teaching and research in the field of the bioeconomy can be widely observed. The presumed link between the existence of a bioeconomy strategy at national level and awareness of the bioeconomy was not confirmed. Research limitations/implications: The limited sample, the narrow geographical scope of the study does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the topic. Another limitation is the lack of representativeness of the results in relation to all university representatives in the countries studied and the uneven composition of the samples. Originality/value: This study fills the knowledge gap about the status of the bioeconomy in European academic communities by analysing its perception among both teachers and students of social, natural and applied sciences.

This study is about the use of contemplative practices in forest fieldwork and how such practices could support the growth of ecological literacy. Ecological literacy is explored by employing Donna Haraway's notions of "becoming-with" and "companion species." The study is based on fieldwork with a group of adult learners attending a folk high school in Sweden. The participants are followed as they encounter and are becoming-with species of the forest. The empirical material consists of video- and audio-recordings. The results provide a narrative of forest encounters, environmental concerns and dreams about the simple harmonic life. The forest fieldwork thus provides a site for elaborating a more inclusive ethics and teaching strategies where nonhuman-human relational aspects become center to ecological literacy. The results suggest that folk high school environmental education could be used as a source of inspiration in disrupting the practices of compulsory science education.

A growing evidence base has demonstrated the value of Forest School as an outdoor learning approach which supports a range of benefits including improved physical, social and mental wellbeing, increased confidence and self-esteem and the development of problem-solving skills. However, critics of Forest School have argued that a lack of theoretical coherence and detail risks the misinterpretation of Forest School and its pedagogy by both practitioners and researchers. This paper responds to these concerns, establishing a comprehensive and detailed theoretical framework for Forest School. Through a thorough examination of evidence supporting Forest School delivery, we examine the theoretical keystones of this pedagogical approach to inform an interdisciplinary theoretical understanding of Forest School. We argue that Forest School is a particular socially constructed approach to outdoor education, which is informed by social constructivist experiential learning theory. This is driven by two core components. First, play-pedagogy, which includes the opportunity to experience risk and be creative. Next, biophilic interaction, which examines the human innate desire to be in nature. This is informed by the cultural origins of Forest School development as underpinned by Nordic notions of "friluftsliv" and by theories of place attachment. Taken together, this theoretical framework considers the breadth of knowledge that underpins Forest School and recognises its growing evidence base, which positions it as a rich and valuable pedagogical approach.

Environmental education (EE) is instrumental in developing environmentally literate citizens with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to support sustainable development. In the case of EE school field trips in the USA, these experiences also foster learning and skill development that supports meeting state and national educational standards. However, despite the importance of EE field trip programs, not all schools participate. This study explored the barriers to accessibility to EE field trips by conducting semi-structured interviews with EE providers and administrators of middle schools in the Congaree Biosphere Reserve (CBR), South Carolina, USA. We also used geospatial information systems to investigate accessibility spatially. Results suggest that aspatial barriers such as curricular constraints, capacity to plan and lead field trips, costs, and transportation influence participation. The results also suggest that these aspatial barriers are often interlinked and that access to EE field trips is disproportionately allocated to students in private education and urban settings and that rural, poor, minority, underperforming, and English as Second Language students face additional hurdles. We discuss a range of potential solutions to overcoming these barriers that reduce participation in EE field trips in the CBR.

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a National Scenic Trail that extends approximately 2,653 miles from the border of California and Mexico to the border of Washington State and Canada. This study examined land management and hiker issues that day, overnight, and thru-hikers experience in California while navigating the PCT in order to inform land managers. This quantitative survey, completed through Qualtrics, was disseminated to thru-hikers who completed the trail between 2017 and 2021, and individuals who used the trail for shorter durations. Survey questions focused on technology, Trail Angels, rule enforcement by land management agencies, the permitting process by the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA), hiker education, and hiker demographics. Descriptive statistics were calculated and analyzed. Results indicate that most hikers prefer articles on the PCTA website, Leave No Trace (LNT) website, and certifications to gain education about the trail. They also felt that personal contacts were the most effective way to gain pre-trip education. Almost all hikers use technology on the trail, such as navigation or informational apps, emergency calls, taking photos, and listening to videos or music. More thru-hikers rely on navigational apps than day/overnight users. Many hikers felt there should be more rangers in the backcountry but also felt that social enforcement of rules is effective. Regarding Trail Angels, thru-hikers felt they were important for transportation, food/water, and shelter. Managerial implications for public land managers included a need to develop ways to educate users. This can be done in-person, online, or through signage. Increasing the presence of rangers or volunteers on the trail was also recommended, as well as developing area or jurisdiction-specific apps for information and education about trail conditions or rules. Additional education of sustainable hiking behaviors may help mitigate potential negative impacts hikers may have on the environment. Land managers must continue to assess what is currently being done and reevaluate on an ongoing basis in order to preserve and maintain sustainable use of public lands.

The field of higher education (HE) is characterized by diversity stemming from multiple sources. Diversity results in boundaries that carry the potential to promote personal and professional development for HE students. Boundaries also offer the possibility of learning generic skills and planning and carrying out challenging tasks that require collaborative problem solving in multidisciplinary teams. Drawing upon the theory of boundary crossing, this study aims to identify the kinds of boundaries that HE students experience during a multidisciplinary online course on forest bioeconomy and how they manage these boundaries in terms of boundary crossing while collaboratively solving an ill-defined development challenge set by a working life organization. The data consist of in-depth interviews with student teams (N = 20). The results provide insights into the pedagogical principles through which students' boundary-crossing processes can be facilitated in HE online learning settings.