EPALE - Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe

As part of the ForDiL project, supported by the Erasmus+ programme, the partners meet face-to-face twice a year to monitor the progress of their work and strengthen their collaboration. In October 2024, this meeting took place in France at the Institut of Bavay, offering a programme combining visits, technical exchanges and local discoveries. 

Here's an overview of three intense and inspiring days.

Day 1: Between tradition and innovation, the discovery of the UFA Bavay and the Institut Genech

The French partnership is supported by the UFA of Bavay, attached to the Institut Genech. This college and vocational school offers apprenticeships in forestry, ecological engineering, landscaping, personal services, and regional development as part of the ForDiL project. 

After a warm welcome, the team discovered the facilities at the UFA Bavay, which provide ample space for practical apprenticeships to pass on technical and practical skills.

The ForDiL team then visited the main site of the Institut Genech, an establishment open to the world and focused on the well-being of learners. It offers the largest range of training courses in nature and living environment professions in France, with over 50 diploma courses from the 4th year to Bac+3, available in initial, alternate, or continued education.

The Institute is firmly committed to an active, hands-on approach to teaching and boasts numerous facilities that give students the chance to try out a wide range of professions:

• A modern educational farm with a dairy cow farm equipped with an automatic milking system, a cheese factory producing “Maroilles” cheese, and sheep for meat production.
• An equestrian centre for horse-related professional learning. 
• An in vitro culture laboratory, a pioneer in vegetative propagation and varietal selection.
• An apple juice production infrastructure which combines training and service for local producers.

This visit was only a sample of the Institute's activities. Still, it enabled the ForDiL team to appreciate the unique way the Genech Institute combines regional tradition, professional expertise and technological innovation. 

On the way, glancing at the Forum Antique in Bavay provided a fascinating insight into the region's rich historical heritage, with Roman remains dating back over 2,000 years.

Day 2: Forest immersion at Nouvion-en-Thiérache

Many forest managers are passionate about their work, and the ForDiL team saw this once again with Amaury Loquet, a forest technician in the private forest of Nouvion-en-Thiérache.

This forest of more than 1,400 ha is part of a forestry company that has long practised ‘close-to-nature’ silviculture, adopting principles similar to those of CCF Silviculture.

There were many rich discussions, from regeneration to timber sale, including thinning, inventories, and management plans. Today, the Nouvion forest is an example of an irregularised forest with a great diversity of species and high productivity while preserving biodiversity. Find out more about the Nouvion forest

Highlights of the visit :

• Management focused on biodiversity and soil protection.
• Preservation of dead wood and optimisation of wood quality.
• A remarkable diversity of species combined with sustained productivity.

This forest, a genuine model of balance between exploitation and conservation, was the subject of inspiring discussions on the connections between its practices and the objectives of the ForDiL project.

The afternoon was spent on technical workshops on marteloscopes and travailloscopes and planning transnational exchanges for the students. Specific needs for the development of the educational application were also discussed.

Day 3: Focus on the Mormal forest and the marteloscope

After visiting the privately managed Nouvion forest, the team had the opportunity to discover the public forest of Mormal, a French state forest managed by the Office National des Forêts (ONF). The partners visited the new marteloscope, specifically for the ForDiL project. The partnership worked with the ONF's communications department to mark the occasion to produce a video presenting the project and its partners. We'll share it with you as soon as it becomes available.

The MENDELU team also used its presence on-site to carry out the marteloscope inventory measurements.

The Mormal forest is an even-aged pedunculate oak forest. The ONF presented the silvicultural approaches used to convert part of the even-aged forest into an uneven-aged forest, with plantations of sessile oak and promoting natural regeneration. Find out more about the Mormal forest.

The afternoon was devoted to setting up the decision-making schemes and evaluating them by forestry experts. The working group also focused on the project's budgetary and communication aspects. 

Highlights of the visit:

• The presentation of the marteloscope and travailloscope zones to all the partners 
• Discussions with ONF officials on the silvicultural approaches implemented in the Mormal forest. 
• A video produced in collaboration with the ONF to promote the project.

To round off the day, the partners explored the city of Lille on an evening tour, followed by a traditional dinner featuring local flavours.

A strengthened partnership and promising prospects

Despite an intense programme, these transnational meetings, rich in exchanges, are essential for maintaining a positive dynamic and alignment between partners.

Thanks to everyone's commitment, the ForDiL project continues to progress well. It aims to create innovative educational tools for sustainable forest management.

The next stage:

The digital application development aims to render the learning to hammering under a CCF silvicultural approach, autonomous, accessible and innovative, for people of all levels.