Browsing by Author "Ylönen, Lyydia"

The Forest Academy for Decision-makers is a well-known concept. It is necessary to evaluate the concept occasionally as it was created already in 1995. The goal of the Forest Academy is to increase dialogue between forest sector and rest of society by providing a forum to arouse interest towards forest issues and the possibilities that the field can provide for society, create new networks and provide stimulations for forest professionals from other sectors. Interaction, high-class presentations and attractions and the unique course spirit are in the core of the concept. I have evaluated the impact and effectiveness of the Forest Academy forums in this quality study. I have studied weather the concept has been able to affect in decision making or has something been achieved in the forest sector or wider in the society by utilizing networks or substance from the courses. I have interviewed course participants in 2016. Additionally, I have analyzed the course themes and how those have been changed during the past 20 years. I have used the previous evaluation study of the Forest Academy forums for planning this study and it is also valuable to compare results between these studies. The Forest Academy has improved the understanding of the Finnish forest sector among decision-makers. The acceptability of the forest sector and forest utilization and the national consensus in forest issues have strengthened by the Forest Academy. It has offered a memorable four-day-course experience for over thousand decision-makers. The concept has worked effectively as it has created new networks, added knowledge of the forest sector, and introduced how pervasive the forest and natural resource sector is. The results support the future demand for this kind of forum. At the same time, it is important to reach appropriate, effective, and committed participants for the upcoming courses. However, the concept needs developing as society and operational environment has become more hectic and global, forest sector is nowadays part of the bioeconomy and the whole natural resources and bioeconomy field faces strong expectations how to tackle the climate change and maintain biodiversity. The Forest Academy would need to answer more and more complex and wider topics. It demands development of the concept structure, encourage for interdisciplinary collaboration with various interest groups, even more interactive working during the courses, and bolder visions of the future role of forests. However, the basic knowledge of the forest related issues cannot be neglect. Forest Academy would need to consider, how to coordinate continuous and more determined developing, which takes into account the different operational environment than 20 years ago. The Forest Academy should still regard that the two-way communication really works in practice.