This project aims to create the foundation for an emerging small-scale, forest-based industry in Iceland by learning from experiences of other Scandinavian partners. Education, learning, standards and certification schemes for quality assurance are the key factors for building up a successful forest-based industry. In reverse will learnings from Iceland be documented in an innovative approach and demonstrate how to initiate forestry in all its complexity from the scratch on a national level and how these findings can be transferred to third countries who face similar challenges. The Agricultural University of Iceland and the Iceland Forest Service have followed closely the forest development in Iceland over past decades and are in constant cooperation with many forest-related stakeholders. Those comprehensive activities result in the major fact that there is a very strong need to build bridges from the wood production era towards the build up of wood processing capacities in order to enhance value-added chains on a national level. The history of forestry in Iceland is rather short since the first woods were only planted about 100 years ago. But growing timber for harvesting only began around the 1980s, when farmers started planned forestry with governmental support schemes. Today - 40 years later – these commercial timberlands have reached a scale ready for harvesting and usage but the knowledge of thinning and processing, of sawing, drying and utilizing the woods is not readily availabe on a professional level. At the same time it has become an urgent matter to formulate and implement coordinated quality assessment guides for the main tree species used in Icelandic forestry. A broader use of Icelandic timber will lead to less import of timber for processing, which also leads to a lower carbon footprint of wood processing in Iceland. Therefore it is very important on an economical, social and environmental level to build up knowledge on sustainable use of Icelandic forests. Icelandic forestry is standing on the crossroads today. Only the development of a sustainable use and the processing of Icelandic timber resources can safeguard the establishment of a timber-related cluster in Iceland which is fostering value-added chains within the forest sector and beyond. The foundation for such a cluster formation will be the creation of faciliating factors and promoting conditions in order to enable relevant structures to emerge. The creation of wood-processing knowledge on an Iceland-specific level will be the foundation to kick off this development. In the medium run will the creation of more and better wood processing lead to a further attraction of establishing forest in Iceland with the prospect of generating economic yield, environmental benefits and general welfare. Wider possibilities of using Icelandic quality timber will also serve to make the forest industry more sustainable. This project can therefore contribute on a fundamental level to sustainable development in Iceland and to fulfill UN Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore a main outcome of this innovative project will be to build up wood-processing education in Iceland and furthermore transfer and adapt existing European timber standards to Icelandic circumstances in close cooperation with experienced partners from countries with a long wood-processing history (Sweden and Denmark). The excisting training and teaching materials from Denmark and Sweden will be updated and adapted to Icelandic cirumstances. All of the materials will be adjusted to digital learning principles. Transforming the learning material will be the first step during first year of the project. To receive praxis-feedback of this learning material it will be used during a 2-years-VET learners course that will start in the second year of the project. Students and teachers will review the teaching materials during their learning. These reviews will be immediately used in order to revise teaching materials on a continous level. Further project outcome will be the revision of a curriculum that enables the transfer of Icelandic lessons learned from kickstarting commercial timberlands to third countries who are facing simular challenges. In the year 2001 the Icelandic Forestry Service and the Agricultural University of Iceland in cooperation with other stakeholders started to accompany the growing interest of farmers for forestry by offering forest-related education programmes, called „Green forests“. This 3-year-educational-programme was a very sucess-relevant factor when it came to establish country-wide commercial timberlands over the past decades. The programme built up extensive and continuing knowledge for farmers. Today - as the forests grow up - there is a need for further knowledge and education than in the past decades – from establishing forests towards processing timber. This project aims to close this knowledge gap.
With the TreProX project we wanted to create more and better knowledge of thinning and processing, of sawing, drying and utilizing the woods and bring this knowledge on to a professional level for students and future professionals of the sector. We wanted to strengthen our networks between the partners and give our students and participants the possibility to learn directly from each other and from the professional sector. We wanted to create an innovative way of teaching skills and facts by creating new teaching material, by hosting workshops and include excursion and practical experiences for the students and participants. At the same time we wanted to formulate and implement coordinated quality assessment guides for the main tree species used in Icelandic forestry. And work on ways how we can teach and enhance this quality management in wood processing here in Iceland.
Back in 2019, the TreProX project was created. We applied for an Erasmus+ KA2 funding because we at the Agricultural University in correspondence with our national partners had the idea to enhance the forestry and wood processing education in Iceland and seek for a closer cooperation with our Icelandic and Scandinavian partners in order to help to create and shape the foundation for a new forest-based industry in Iceland by learning from experiences of other Scandinavian partners. Education, learning, standards and certification schemes for quality assurance are the key factors for building up a successful forest-based industry. In reverse we wanted as well that the learnings from Iceland would be documented in an innovative approach and demonstrate how to initiate forestry in all its complexity from the scratch on a national level and how these findings can be transferred to third countries who face similar challenges. There was a urgent need for additional and updated teaching and learning materials and to increase the professional exchange for teacher and trainers in the sector. The transnational approach was very important in order to give the students and the teachers the opportunity to learn and train new skills.