Overview
Between July 11 and 14, the practical workshop Education to live with fire took place in Santiago de Compostela. Forest fires are a complex phenomenon that affects our natural and socioeconomic environment. In recent years, progress has been made in aspects such as early detection, prevention, extinction or restoration. Despite these important advances, the forest area that is burned continues to increase, while the restored area does not reach 1%. Different analyzes indicate that a greater emphasis is needed on the improvement of education, the transfer of knowledge and the involvement of society. The workshop has been a meeting point to find new formulas for these strategies, including Service-Learning.
The practical workshop, in which more than 100 people from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Chile and Venezuela participated, experiences were exchanged through short presentations (more than 50% given by students), practical workshops were given by part of specialists, both in the classroom and in the field (audiovisual techniques, gamification, educational strategies and service-learning) and round tables for discussion between different actors were organized. At the same time, attendees attended artistic and scientific exhibitions related to the theme.
Dr. Laura B. Reyes, president of the International Union of Soil Science, participated in the opening, and gave the conference Facing fire to live with it, assuming the challenge of preserving life on Earth. During the event, two artistic exhibitions related to fires were organized in parallel, the LUME Exhibition, produced by Fundación Abanca, which was exhibited at Alameda Park in Santiago de Compostela, and the exhibition FIRES IN GALICIA, by the artist Miguel Mosquera at the School of Biology of the USC.
Programme
Tuesday, July 11
18:30-20:30. Welcome reception. Guided tour of the Museum of Natural History. It was organized by Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG-CSIC)
Wednesday, July 12
9:00 – 9:30. Opening of the course. Welcome and introduction by different authorities and representatives of Xunta de Galicia, University of Santiago de Compostela, partners of the Facing Fire project and the student body.
9:30 – 10:00. Plenary talk. Led by Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez, President of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).
10:00 – 11:00. Flash presentations (I). Short presentations of the activities and intellectual outputs carried out in the framework of the Facing Fire project and other educational projects. Participation was open to different profiles (secondary school teachers, universities, communities, associations, NGOs, etc.). Introduction was given by Gavrill Xanthopoulos (DIMITRA, Greece). A total of 16 oral presentations were given.
11:00 – 11:15. Break.
11:15 – 13:30. I session of practical workshops designed for the Facing Fire project.
- Service-Learning (led by David García-Romero, Mar Lorenzo (University of Santiago de Compostela). The goal of this practical workshops was to learn about the possibilities of Service-Learning to reinforce classroom training and promote social projects with an impact on different stakeholders.
- Gamification (led by Flor Álvarez Taboada and Elena Marcos Porras (University of Santiago de León), Alberto Ledo and Beatriz Omil (Xunta de Galicia) and Victor Méndez (University of Santiago de Compostela). Development of educational materials related to forest fires. This workshop is aimed at teachers, trainers and students who wish to apply gamification in the training of schoolchildren at different levels in forest fire prevention. In addition to the main objective indicated, this workshop focuses on the educator’s ability to transfer, through the game, knowledge about forest fires and the importance of proper forest management in their prevention. The design also has other benefits, such as the fact that the designed game helps to improve the distribution of tasks and teamwork, being able to adapt its design to any educational level. In turn, it promotes motivation and learning by doing (learning by doing), encouraging the activation of thought before action.
13:30 – 15:00. Lunch break.
15:00- 17:00. II session of workshops designed for the Facing Fire project.
- Educational strategies (ed by Helena Ballart, Ariadna Goenaga (Pau Costa Foundation) and Pablo Souza-Alonso (University of Santiago de Compostela). The workshop aims to share innovative teaching and outreach methods, techniques, and approaches that enhance social engagement and promote lifelong learning in the wildland fire field.
- Audiovisual tools (led by Roi Méndez, Iria Souto, Noel Castro (University of Santiago de Compostela), and Paula Quiroga (OLLO Collective). How to create effective audiovisual materials in the educational field. to teach non-professionals how to make educational videos on environmental issues. To achieve this objective we will approach the different stages of the production process, from the ideation and elaboration of a script, the narrative development of a short piece, to the technical aspects of recording and editing.
17:00 – 18:30. Flash presentations of Facing Fire project (II). Short presentations of the activities and intellectual outputs carried out in the framework of the Facing Fire project and other educational projects. Participation was open to different profiles (secondary school teachers, universities, communities, associations, NGOs, etc.). Introduction was given by Fátima Vélez de Castro (University of Coimbra, Greece). A total of 16 oral presentations were given.
Thursday, July 13
Field trip with practical activities.
08:30. Departure from Santiago to the working area of the Facing Fire project (Taboada, Lugo, Spain).
10:00 – 11:00. Interpretative route with contents related to the problem of forest fires, led by ApS students.
11:00 – 13:30. Practical activities related to the contents of the workshops, as well as activities developed in the different national and international educational projects of Service-Learning. Please see here the detailed programme of the workshops.
13.30 – 15:30. Lunch.
15:30 – 18:00. Discovery of the biodiversity and the ethnographic and viticultural heritage of the region (Fervenza do Toxa, Bandeira)
Friday, July 14
9:00 – 10:50. Flash presentations (III). Short presentations of the activities and intellectual outputs carried out in the framework of the Facing Fire project and other educational projects. Participation open to different profiles (secondary school teachers, universities, communities, associations, NGOs, etc.). Introduction was given by Víctor García Valle (TRAGSA-MITECO, Spain), y Soraya Imperial y Sara Miero (AGIG, Portugal). A total of 10 short presentations were presented.
10:50 – 11:10. Break.
11:10 – 13:30. Round Table: Needs on education and training on forest fires. The international perspective.
This activity was divided into two parts. First, we had an interactive round table led by students, landowners, communities, administration and companies discussed the professions of the future, the professional career in environmental forest management issues, skills and abilities required today and future prospects. On the other hand, a Campfire session was organized, in which the participants, organized in small working groups formed by people with different profiles, identified needs and opportunities responding to different current issues.
Roundtable
Chair: Laura Bertha Reyes (IUSS) and Pablo Souza (USC)
- Gavriil Xanthoulos (DEMETER, Greece). Forest Management in Southern Europe
- Gustavo Saiz (UCSC, Chile). Educational strategies in Chile
- Felipe García-Oliva (UNAM). Educational strategies in México
- Diana Rodrigues / Henrique Costas (UAVEIRO). The vision of the students in Portugal
- Evangelos Spyrou (UoA, Greece). The vision of the students in Greece
- Paula Maia (UAVEIRO). The vision of Teachers in Portugal
- Cristiano Foderi (UFIREZE). The vision of teachers in Italy
- Claudia Magalhães (FORESTIS, Portugal). The vision of Foret owners, Portugal
- Patricia M. Rodríguez (SER). The vision of researchers in Europe
- Ariadna Goenaga (Pau Costa F.; EduFire Toolkit). Fire education in primary education
- Catarina Sequeira (ULISBOA) . Secondary education and university connections
- Nicasio T Jimenez_Morillo / Daniel Moya (FUEGORED). Reserachers in southern Europe
Campfire session
12:30-13:00. Internal discussion in the groups.
13:00-13:30. Questions to round table members.
13:30 – 15:00. Lunch break.
15:00 – 16:30. Final remarks. Reflection and interaction session about the main results of the course and their possible application. Participation dynamics with surveys and active work.
16:30 – 17:00. Presentation of diplomas and awards to the best international S-L projects.
17:00. Closing ceremony.