WASHINGTON, DC—The USDA Forest Service Office of International Programs traveled to Moldova in early August to participate in a workshop on environmental education alongside 22 international educators from Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. The workshop participants were part of the regional EcoEducator’s Network, which the Forest Service helped develop and has supported since 2021. The Forest Service, Ukrainian nonprofit Center for Civic Initiatives, and specialists from the Earth Island Institute hosted the workshop.

The workshop provided a forum for members of the Eco-Educators Network to share best practices on engaging and empowering young people through ecological education. Workshop training sessions included eco-educational lesson plan design, the development of joint interpretative programs in protected areas, and creating and using ecological trails in youth engagement projects. Partnerships and collaboration, both within and across country borders, were overarching themes of the workshop. Participants had a valuable opportunity at the end of the week to discuss ideas for individual and joint activities moving forward.

“It was incredible to see people from different professional backgrounds and cultures unite over a common goal of empowering and inspiring people to protect the environment,” said Forest Service program manager Joshua Lee. “The network and workshop provide a critical space for environmental educators to share challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities for collaboration.”

Field visits were a key component of the workshop. Mariana, a geography teacher in Moldova, shared lessons learned from her watershed restoration project. Mariana worked with her community on a volunteer tree-planting initiative to restore a local watershed, including developing interpretive signage. “Children realized they could help the environment with their activities,” Mariana shared, adding, “They even brought their families. They were so enthusiastic they continued to care for the trees and prepared brochures.” They “showed the village that we can change something...We’re looking forward to seeing the trees grow.”

The trip culminated in the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between network members, formally signaling the network’s intentions to continue their collaboration.

"People from different professions, organizations and countries start to understand that you can unite and work together. We learned many things that will allow us to develop and work more on environmental education,” said Andriy Vyshnyak, chairman of Center for Civic Initiatives Board, on the importance of international collaboration.

Forest Service International Programs is a leader in U.S. international development efforts and operates on every inhabited continent to support global partners’ natural resource conservation efforts.