The project Forest-Metsä-Wald (fmw) of the Austrian School HLW Türnitz and the Finnish Lapland Tourism College LAMO deals with "Green tourism" and "Green economy". As in both countries large parts of the surfaces are covered by woods, the topic "forest" concerns all participants. Students, teachers and other stakeholders are hit by the development going on in our surrounding natural environment. The project wants to make aware of the changes by studying the impact of tourism on our environment.In the project activities the participants deal with different new trends in tourism. They get to know different approaches. By involving them in hands-on activities they learn how to protect and respect nature. At HLW Türnitz 25 students and at LAMO 20 students and the teachers take part in the project. Various means of communication are used to enable the exchange of ideas among the participants. Besides, there are exchange visits where the students and the teachers meet in the respective partner countries in order to work together on the topic Forest-Metsä-Wald. In workshops, during excursions, by meeting experts, by presenting presentations, by organising events the participants immerse into the topic.Apart from teaching the students hard skills, the project offers the chance to develop different soft skills which increase the employability of the young participants.Last but not least, the project is meant to promote intercultural communication and increased knowledge of sustainable development.
The project Forest-Metsä-Wald (fmw) of the Austrian School HLW Türnitz and the Finnish Lapland Tourism College LAMO dealt with "Green tourism" and "Green economy". As in both countries large parts of the surfaces are covered by woods, the topic "forest" concerned all participants. Students, teachers and other stakeholders were hit by the development going on in our surrounding natural environment. The project wanted to make aware of the changes by studying the impact of tourism on our environment.In the project activities the participants dealt with different new trends in tourism. They got to know different approaches and teaching methods. By involving them in hands-on activities they learned how to protect and respect nature. At HLW Türnitz 23 students and at LAMO 25 students and the teachers (3 from the respective partner schools) took part in the project. Various means of communication were used to enable the exchange of ideas among the participants. Besides, there were exchange visits where the students and the teachers met in the respective partner countries in order to work together on the topic Forest-Metsä-Wald and the final products, a wooden key chain and a photobook). In workshops, during excursions, by meeting experts, by presenting presentations, by organising events the participants immersed into the topic forest. Apart from teaching the students hard skills, the project offered the chance to develop different soft skills which increased the employability of the young participants. Besides the increase of knowledge about forests, trees, plants, forestry in general and the importance of an intact environment, the project was meant to promote intercultural understanding and plurilingualism. It increased knowledge of sustainable development. The project definitely influenced the participants interests as they discovered new interests and hobbies. They developed new attitudes and became more open-minded. Students and teachers were working for a common aim during the project period. Even after finishing the main work packages they stayed in contact which proves the sustainability of the project. Moreover, the participants planted trees which are meant to be lasting symbols of the project Forest-Metsä-Wald.