Forest, sustainability and dialogue?

Afternoon parallel session of the Human-Forest Relationship Research Club

Hall 107

#metsätiede2024

#sivistys2024

The year 2024 is nominated in Finland as ”Sivistyksen teemavuosi” (The Year of Sivistys). The Forest Science Day is part of this programme with the theme ”Sustainable Future”. In lack of a precise English translation for the Finnish word sivistys, the German word bildung can be used to describe the various understandings of sivistys. Like sivistys, bildung can refer more narrowly to knowledge, education and behaviour, or more broadly to intellectual development, maturity, growth and refinement, as well as to wisdom, open-mindedness, tolerance and openness. Bildung is also linked to the concepts of culture and civilization. The afternoon session of the Human-Forest Relationship (HFR) Research Club will explore the diverse understandings on the concepts of bildung and sustainability in the context of forest-based research – especially related to human-forest relationships.

Research on the understandings and significance of bildung, sustainability and open dialogue has increased in recent years in various fields, including research on forests and human-forest relationships. The ideologies and understandings behind these concepts often include promises of a better life and future. However, these concepts can be understood and interpreted in many different ways, thus opening up inspiring, yet often contested perspectives. The approaches to bildung and sustainability also have synergies. Eco-social education aims to increase respect and responsibility towards nature and other human beings. Eco-social bildung consists of various holistic skills, such as the ability to understand the consequences of one’s own choices and lifestyles and how to act towards a sustainable future. Dialogue, similarly to sustainability and bildung, can be broadly understood as a desirable goal or a principle to be pursued. Rather than focusing on being right or wrong, dialogue emphasizes mutual, holistic attitudes towards each other, with a shared ambition for building common understanding. Dialogical practices have been developed also in relation to forests and the use of natural resources, such as the dialogues of the Citizen’s our forests -comment and the Erätauko foundation. 

Programme

Chair: Tuulikki Halla, tuulikki . halla () uef . fi

Technical support: Kristiina Koskinen, kristiina . koskinen () ulapland . fi, +358 40 508 4089 (backup Tuulikki Halla, tuulikki . halla () uef . fi, +358 40 737 3904)