Table 2 List of individual S-L projects organized into four categories: Environmental awareness, outreach and communication, fire prevention, and post-fire restoration
From: Service-learning to improve training, knowledge transfer, and awareness in forest fire management
Category | Title | Place | Disciplines involved | Participants | Tutor Students | Degree/ Master project | Objectives and brief summary of the S-L project |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Environmental awareness | Interactive Fire Platform | A Coruña | Computer Engineering Degree | USC, Secondary school IES Terra do Xallas (A Coruña) | 1 | yes | Design of a mobile application (Android and IOS) that will allow high school students and non-specialized public to know different aspects about the problem of forest fires through questionnaires |
University survey: How much do you know about forest fires? | Lugo, Santiago | Forestry Engineering | All faculties of USC, Regional Forestry Administration | 1 | yes | Questionnaire intended to identify the degree of knowledge of the university population on aspects related to forest fires. Almost 700 participants | |
Naturarte | Santiago | Communication Sciences | USC, Students of Design and Animation | 1 | no | Students developed animation using forest fires and the conservation on natural values as main topics. Those works with higher technical quality/originality were used in the social networks of the PCF project. | |
Living memories of forest fires in the Xurés I. Educational activities | O Xurés (Ourense) | Education in nature, Forestry engineering, Communication Sciences | USC, NGOs, Forest owners, Neighbors. | 3 | yes | Students prepared a report summarizing all S-L projects carried out in the Xurés Natural Park, discussing education strategies to use in educational centers. | |
Outreach and Communication | Living memories of forest fires II. Documentary | O Xurés (Ourense) | Communication Sciences, Master in management of educational activities in nature. | USC, NGO, Forest owners, Neighbors | 4 | yes | The students carried out a documentary project framed within the S-L projects carried out in the Xurés NP. The documentary collects the personal vision of people affected by fires, collecting testimonies in the form of experiences, ideas, memories, and feelings. |
Now more than ever, face the fire | Santiago | Communication Sciences, Forest Engineering | USC, Regional Forestry Administration | 2 | yes | Exploring the potential of new forms of digital communication as an informative tool. Create a new identity and brand image for the national project. Students designed and implemented a social awareness campaign. The information published in different social networks and newsletter collects data and spread information, promoting social behavior to reduce fire incidence. | |
Fire prevention | Fire prevention through the use of friendly (prescribed) fire | Albacete | Forestry Engineering | UCLM, NGOs, 2 educational centers, forestry companies and Administration with forestry management. | 1 | no | Student tutors and the forest service focus on prevention, highlighting the need for management tools appropriate to each type of habitat and situation. Restoration techniques were promoted in affected areas, through impact zoning (burn severity and vulnerability) and the application of emergency actions for soil conservation. |
Fire prevention in the Wildland-urban interface (WUI) of Sierra Morena | Córdoba | Forestry Engineering | UCO, Local administration, 1 secondary school, forest management administration | 1 | no | Simple approach to technical aspects of fire management: identification of plant species in (periurban) fire-prone areas that favor fires and forest fuels assessment; exemplification of prevention and extinction activities by the forestry administration. | |
Making development and conservation compatible | O Xurés (Ourense) | Forestry (Technical grade Secondary school) | USC, Local Administration, Regional Administration with forest management, 3 NGOs, Forest owners. | 2 | yes | Develop a silvicultural model to increase forest heterogeneity and reducing fuel load. Students planned and executed a reforestation (2 ha) in collaboration with school students, neighbors, NGO members and the Regional forestry service. | |
Post-fire restoration | Soil protection tools for damage mitigation | Albacete | Forestry Engineering | UCO, NGOs, 2 educational centers, forestry companies and Administration with forestry management | 1 | no | Student learned (remotely) and then explained how to assess postfire soil damage using laboratory and field techniques. Practical application was carried out in an experimental area of the ECOFOR group. Technically, the project consisted in a previous evaluation (severity) and a post-fire restoration of a burned area |
Restoration and fire prevention in the Northern Sierra of Madrid | Madrid | Forestry Engineering and INIA students | UPM, INIA, NGOs, a training center, Administration with forestry management and a neighborhood community | 1 | no | Integral project combining the management of recently burned forest areas and awareness activities for the population. The S-L project focused the training of higher education students to increase social awareness, interactive forest activities (diminishing soil erosion and soil protection) and prevention workshops to reduce the introduction of pyrophytic species | |
Post-fire restoration (cont.) | Burning a forest, you burn part of yourself | O Xurés (Ourense) | Forestry engineering, Education and Communication Sciences | Primary school, regional forestry and local administration, forest management companies, NGOs and forest owners. | 1 | no | Training on post-fire soil protection techniques (mulching, barricades construction, etc.). Designing and implementation of awareness-raising activities for young students and families. Demonstrations of actions carried out by the forestry services. Workshops to differentiate postfire severity degrees and application of soil protection techniques. Discussion on the need to support post-fire soil protection actions. |
Guarding treasures of nature | O Xurés (Ourense) | Master of Forestry | USC, Regional Forestry Administration | 1 | yes | Conservation and recovery of the endangered Prunus lusitanica. Students recognized the natural value of the environment, focusing on threatened species, identifying key soil and climatic conditions, and discussing silvicultural work and conservational strategies. Generating maps, cartography and a series of recommendations. The student tutor organized visits to the protected area. | |
S-L project in the forest community of Teis | Vigo | Forestry and Natural Environment | USC, Forestry community of owners, Secondary School. | 1 | no | Capture the attention of young people and bring the population -with a more urban profile- to become aware of forest and nature values and the services they provide. Create a local (school) nursery with native species intended for restoration activities. Elimination of invasives species. Restoration activities were carried out by neighbors and local schoolchildren through a permanent school-workshop, |