Within the framework of the European ERASMUS+ programme Forest-Ed, from 7 to 9 July, Provence Model Forest had the pleasure, together with the GRAINE PACA network, of receiving the project partners, namely
- The CESEFOR Foundation (Spain);
- Florentine Mountain Model Forest (Italy);
- The River Mirna Basin Model Forest (Croatia);
- The Regional Development Fund of Northern Macedonia (Greece);
- ASPEA (Portugal);
- As well as the Mediterranean Model Forest Network, and other organizations affiliated with one of the organizations involved in the project.
A big thanks to the structures that hosted us during these 3 days:
- Wednesday 7 July: with the Campus Provence Nature Aix-Valabre-Marseille (ex Lycée agricole Aix-Valabre) which provided the morning session (through its director, who is also a town councillor in Cadolive) and addresses in its training process the issues of education and forestry pedagogy (BTS Gestion et Protection de la Nature, among others), in the afternoon via the Loubatas in Peyrolles (an eco-hotel in the middle of the forest created to raise awareness of these issues), and the Centre Régional de la Propriété Forestière (bringing together private owners, representing nearly 65% of the regional forest area).
- Thursday 8 July: the Sainte-Baume Regional Nature Park, with the presence of a representative of the Natura 2000 network, explaining the management and preservation of the Sainte-Baume relict forest, and the need to communicate and set up appropriate tools for the general public (management of spaces, different uses of the forest, fire protection, fauna and flora). Then in the afternoon a visit to the Gardanne eco-museum with its director Luc Langeron: on the implementation of innovative environmental education tools (notably via training courses for schools), the theme of fires and forest management.
- Friday 9 July: a demonstration of cork lifting by the ASL Suberaie Varoise at the Château Léoube (also a stakeholder in the project) in front of about sixty people (the main obstacle to the revival of cork farming is the lack of manpower and the need to revive training in cork lifting), then, after a meal with the Mayor of Collobrières (also a departmental councillor of the Var), a round table on the subject of environmental education, the place of the forest (management, protection, development) in public issues, with the presence of the director of the Syndicat Mixte du Massif des Maures, Julie Mariton.
In addition to the support and commitment of these structures during our first Joint Learning Event, we should note the creation of a graphic charter and a logo (thanks to the CESEFOR foundation), a French synthesis of environmental education actions in the Model Forest and Graine PACA network, which served to build the programme, a media echo (an article in Var Matin, Presse Agence, la gazette du chêne-liège, TV83), among other actions by the members involved in the project.
Next exchange: in Italy, from 13 to 15 October.