The primary objective of the FOREE project was to support the transformation of forestry education in Europe by developing a Train-the-Trainer course and a MOOC focused on blended learning models. The goal was to shift from a predominantly classroom-based system to a more flexible, hybrid education approach that effectively integrates digital tools, platforms, and content into adult vocational training. By doing so, the project aimed to raise awareness of blended learning within the forestry community, enhance digital teaching competencies among educators and strengthen the capacity for innovation across the sector. FOREE also sought to embed the creation and use of digital content into practical field training, thereby normalizing digital practices within forestry education. Additionally, the project aimed to improve the quality, interactivity, and accessibility of e-learning formats, while fostering a collaborative European network of forestry education experts. These efforts directly contributed to the broader goals of promoting digital transformation, boosting resilience and improving vocational training across regional and national contexts.
The application was motivated by a clearly recognized need to modernize the forestry education system at sectoral, organisational and individual levels. At the sectoral level, traditional classroom-based training in remote rural areas has become increasingly inaccessible and unattractive. It fails to meet the growing demand for skills in digital forest technologies and does little to attract younger generations to forestry careers.The lack of flexible, digital learning formats has led to declining participation rates and an ageing, predominantly male teaching workforce. On the organisational level, all partners acknowledged the urgent need to improve their methodological approaches, adopt blended learning models and collaboratively develop hybrid course structures that enhance both quality and accessibility. The project also responds to the individual need of forestry educators to overcome resistance to digital teaching and to build the competencies required to effectively combine digital tools with traditional instruction. FOREE aims to establish a flexible, innovative and collaborative learning environment that attracts a new generation of forest educators while boosting cross-border knowledge exchange and pedagogical innovation.