FORRU - FOB - The Forests on Blackboards Project

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Over ten years the “Forests on Blackboards” (FoB) project developed educational materials to inspire and enable school children to become involved in tackling local environmental problems. It engaged school teachers to develop teaching manuals, which continue to provide knowledge and activities about local environmental issues to school children, and supplementary materials that enable effective use of the manuals. E-learning tools  make the manuals available as free downloads and enable evaluation of their use and impact.

Teachers sitting around a table at the Chiang Mai teachers' meeting Chiang Mai teachers discuss content of their FOB manual with FORRU-CMU staffThe project was implemented in 3 phases. In the first phase, FORRU-CMU's former education officer, Joy produced award winning teachers' manuals for both primary and secondary schools in Kanchanaburi  Province (Central Thailand) (2012-15). The books addressed local environmental issues such as elephant-human conflict.

In the second phase, FORRU-CMU education staff Phai and Som worked with teachers in Chiang Mai Province  (North Thailand) (2016-19), on a manual for mid-secondary school children, and built the online e-learning platform, which allows monitoring of the uptake and effectiveness of the materials produced.

Teachers at a table discussing FOB at Krabi teachers' meeting Phai and James introduce the FoB project to teachers in Krabi ProvinceIn the third phase (2019-22), we worked with teachers in Krabi Province , to produce another teacher's manual—this time including coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife, in addition to the distinctive lowland evergreen forest, unique to the province, where FORRU-CMU has a long history of developing successful restoration techniques.