Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games
Forest education plays a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting sustainable forest management amidst global challenges. However, existing programs struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving crises and uncertainties that contribute to deforestation and forest degra...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Forests |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/8/1646 |
| _version_ | 1797584682685038592 |
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| author | Patrick O. Waeber Mariana Melnykovych Emilio Riegel Leonel V. Chongong Regie Lloren Johannes Raher Tom Reibert Muhammad Zaheen Oleksandr Soshenskyi Claude A. Garcia |
| author_facet | Patrick O. Waeber Mariana Melnykovych Emilio Riegel Leonel V. Chongong Regie Lloren Johannes Raher Tom Reibert Muhammad Zaheen Oleksandr Soshenskyi Claude A. Garcia |
| author_sort | Patrick O. Waeber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Forest education plays a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting sustainable forest management amidst global challenges. However, existing programs struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving crises and uncertainties that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation. To tackle these challenges, integrating innovative approaches into forest education is essential. This paper showcases the transformative use of a strategy game, MineSet, as an innovative teaching method for integrated forest management. The game facilitates deeply engaging experiences that provide unique insights into complex issues like deforestation. By assuming various stakeholder roles, graduate students actively engage with and confront the intricate tradeoffs inherent in forest management. This interactive and immersive role-play game not only fosters critical thinking skills but also promotes collaborative problem-solving, making MineSet a highly innovative and attractive tool in forest education. The importance of extended debriefings, facilitation throughout the game, and ongoing discussions should not be underestimated, as they establish meaningful and necessary connections between in-game events, validated educational material, and published research outcomes. Moreover, the game equips students with practical experience and a comprehensive understanding of landscape approaches, using the Congo Basin as a case study. We emphasize the potential of innovative forest education to foster sustainability, stimulate critical thinking, resolve conflicts, and prevent costly forest losses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:56:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4887461ec09f458696b3b4eb8ebf8425 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:56:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-4887461ec09f458696b3b4eb8ebf84252023-11-19T01:09:57ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-08-01148164610.3390/f14081646Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy GamesPatrick O. Waeber0Mariana Melnykovych1Emilio Riegel2Leonel V. Chongong3Regie Lloren4Johannes Raher5Tom Reibert6Muhammad Zaheen7Oleksandr Soshenskyi8Claude A. Garcia9Forest Policy and International Forest Management, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Länggasse 85, 5032 Zollikofen, SwitzerlandForest Policy and International Forest Management, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Länggasse 85, 5032 Zollikofen, SwitzerlandDepartment of Forestry, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354 Freising, GermanyDepartment of Forestry, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354 Freising, GermanyDepartment of Forestry, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354 Freising, GermanyForest Policy and International Forest Management, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Länggasse 85, 5032 Zollikofen, SwitzerlandDepartment of Forestry, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354 Freising, GermanyDepartment of Forestry, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 3, 85354 Freising, GermanyInstitute of Forestry and Landscape-Park Management, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Horikhuvatskyi Shliakh 19, 03041 Kyiv, UkraineForest Policy and International Forest Management, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Länggasse 85, 5032 Zollikofen, SwitzerlandForest education plays a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting sustainable forest management amidst global challenges. However, existing programs struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving crises and uncertainties that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation. To tackle these challenges, integrating innovative approaches into forest education is essential. This paper showcases the transformative use of a strategy game, MineSet, as an innovative teaching method for integrated forest management. The game facilitates deeply engaging experiences that provide unique insights into complex issues like deforestation. By assuming various stakeholder roles, graduate students actively engage with and confront the intricate tradeoffs inherent in forest management. This interactive and immersive role-play game not only fosters critical thinking skills but also promotes collaborative problem-solving, making MineSet a highly innovative and attractive tool in forest education. The importance of extended debriefings, facilitation throughout the game, and ongoing discussions should not be underestimated, as they establish meaningful and necessary connections between in-game events, validated educational material, and published research outcomes. Moreover, the game equips students with practical experience and a comprehensive understanding of landscape approaches, using the Congo Basin as a case study. We emphasize the potential of innovative forest education to foster sustainability, stimulate critical thinking, resolve conflicts, and prevent costly forest losses.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/8/1646MineSetinnovations in teachingtransformative learningserious gamesRPGsrole-play games |
| spellingShingle | Patrick O. Waeber Mariana Melnykovych Emilio Riegel Leonel V. Chongong Regie Lloren Johannes Raher Tom Reibert Muhammad Zaheen Oleksandr Soshenskyi Claude A. Garcia Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games Forests MineSet innovations in teaching transformative learning serious games RPGs role-play games |
| title | Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games |
| title_full | Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games |
| title_fullStr | Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games |
| title_short | Fostering Innovation, Transition, and the Reconstruction of Forestry: Critical Thinking and Transdisciplinarity in Forest Education with Strategy Games |
| title_sort | fostering innovation transition and the reconstruction of forestry critical thinking and transdisciplinarity in forest education with strategy games |
| topic | MineSet innovations in teaching transformative learning serious games RPGs role-play games |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/8/1646 |
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