Virtual Forests
The Covid-19 pandemic is pushing European society to transformative changes in technologic, economical and social dimensions. Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) have been crucial for Higher Education Institutions, teachers and learners during the first covid19 wave. However, the forest sector is generally considered as late adopters in
new ICTs due to several reasons, including that the economic profitability of the sector is very low and online connectivity in the forests is poor. Both lead to a situation where the
incentives for the actors (learners, teachers, ICT services providers...) to develop ICT adapted services for the sector are low. However, the role of forest ecosystems and their
management for green development is crucial.
By fostering forest education, we are fostering different important objectives of the European Union
- Enhancing online, distance and blended learning in the forest sector
- Promoting a rapid socioeconomic recovery with special emphasis on a more resilient rural job market by introducing cutting-edge technology in forest education and, in the long-term
- Facilitating the transformation of the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy.
The specific project objectives are to strengthen cooperation and networking between partners and other relevant organizations and stakeholders, Promote the development, testing, and implementation of innovative open educational resources and learning practices, Support education and training of professionals at different levels and career development stages to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in learning, and increase the international visibility and reputation of participating HEIs while simultaneously expanding international student access to open educational resources in a sector under-represented among online studies.
#virtualForests #education #outputs #project
Virtual Forests
Events
12/01/2022 - Valladolid, Spain
Tree monitoring Spain
Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgrWQZPuCik
This event will allow to know closely a plantation located in the city of Valladolid. This urban forest is monitored through different sensors that collect and combine information about the plants and the weather and soil conditions, and offer solutions for resource management in the face of climate change.-
05/2022 - Nancy, France
Citizens in forestry France
Seminar to be held in Nancy (France) with the main objective of citizen participation, i.e. to involve citizens in forestry and natural resource management and in the search for solutions to the green challenge and climate change.
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10/2022 - Eberswalde, Germany
3D mapping and spatial analysis of forest stands Germany
This multiplying event will bring students and professionals closer to the possibilities offered by virtual visits to forests in marteloscopes and 3D maps of stands both in forestry and in forestry education itself.
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09/2022 - Hanoi, VietNam
International seminar on Forest Virtualization VietNam
A mixed international seminar open to professional, research and academic networks, which aims to disseminate the intellectual outputs of the project and increase the international visibility of VirtualForests' results.
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12/2022 - Nancy, France
Discussion evening on participatory science tools for the forest
"Help the scientists to fight against ticks, to detect new pests, ...; this is the objective of participative sciences.
News
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Sep 16, 2022 by Editor
AUTUMN SCHOOL: VIRTUAL FOREST…
The Autumn School will be held at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) next October
Students will acquire knowledge, skills and abilities related to terrestrial-based remote sensing technologies, 3D stand visualization, virtualization and growth simulation software, and related analytical pipelines.
The intensive learning period comprises field excursions and coursework on the topics of forest stand virtualization for visualization, and growth and management response simulation. Learning objectives include practical training on inventory based on RS technology, digital rendering of forest stands, and coupling with 360° panoramas for mixed augmented or virtual reality representations of a real forest stand.
DETAILS
Date:
Week from 10th to 14th of October 2022
Time:
Every day 09:00 – 16:30 CET
Attendance:
In person (The event will be held in English)
Location:
Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE). Alfred-Möller-Str. 1, 16225 Eberswalde - DE.
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Jan-Peter Mund, Prof. Dr. Jens Müller, Dr. Kevin Beiler, et al. (incl. from University of Valladolid, AgroParisTech & Vietnam National University of Science)
MORE GENERAL INFO
PARTICIPANTS:
Students of Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (Germany)
Students of AgroParisTech (France)
Students of University of Valladolid (Spain)*
*5 places with a grant of 605€ for master students of UVa. More info for UVa students here.
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Jun 14, 2022 by laura.martin
Erasmus+ projects committed…
Erasmus+ projects committed to sustainability
RADIO Erasmus + interview with Irene Ruano, technical coordinator of the Erasmus+ Virtual Forest project (University of Valladolid). In addition, other interesting projects on sustainability and green solutions of interest with Carlos Ramos, from CEIP Francisco de Quevedo in Fuenlabrada (Madrid) and Tatiana Polo, from CEIP La Gaviota in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid).
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Feb 08, 2022 by laura.martin
Virtual Forests project…
On 12 January, the multiplier event "Internet of Trees" of the Erasmus + project Virtual Forests took place in a hybrid format in Valladolid (Spain) and online, organised by Cesefor and in collaboration with the University of Valladolid and Iufor (Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute UVa-INIA). The event focused on topics such as sensors for climate and soil data collection, data management and analysis and techniques for reforestation of degraded urban areas.
This event was attended by a hundred participants interested in urban and sensorial green infrastructure, of which 40 attended in person coming from 8 different universities, the Castilla y León forestry association (FACYLE) and entrepreneurial sector. The participants who connected remotely came from different profiles of the forestry and digitization sectors.
The event featured speakers from different initiatives such as Fernando Bezares and Rodrigo Gómez (Cesefor) and Rafa Rivera (Quantizae) who introduced sensorisation networks in forest plantations management and specific application in experimental plantations, plantations in degraded urban areas and in productive forest plantations, as well as, tools for managing the influx of visitors in protected areas.
The expectation presented by this event showed that there is a huge interest on the digitization of the sector and the possibilities within the forestry and environmental sector towards the use of sensors and data analysis techniques based on artificial intelligence, especially for the optimization of natural resources and their management. But also, the importance of strengthening cooperation, networking between universities and companies, and generating tools that combine learning, innovation and employability.
The specific objective of the multiplier event “Internet of Trees” was to outline and define the bases and contents of the toolkit that is being developed in the Intellectual Output of Virtual Forests “Internet of Trees - A sensorized forest plantation as an educational product”, including the participation and comments provided by the participants.
This Intellectual Output aims to provide a toolkit to sensorise a forest plantation or individual trees, which will be disseminated as educational material for university professors, students, forest owners and managers.
As a result of the day, it is worth highlighting the network generated around the sensorisation networks in forest plantations as for individual trees, as well as other applications in the natural environment. For this reason, and as a contribution derived from the event, an active search for the use of sensors in the natural environment will be incorporated into the Toolkit as well as a methodological guide for the installation and the analysis of data recorded remotely in the field through sensors and its usefulness for decision-making, especially in plantation management.
The replay of the event is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgrWQZPuCik&feature=youtu.be
Contact
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Email
info@virtualforests.eu