Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Integration of machine operators in nature conservation – A demand for education

Simonsson, Anna (2018) BIOM02 20172
Degree Projects in Biology
Popular Abstract
Integration of machine operators in nature conservation
– A demand for education

In Swedish forestry there are several educational programs that provides certificates in nature conservation and environmental considerations for machine operators (Blue & Green). The certificates are optional, but if a machine operator intends to work in licensed forests with a higher nature consideration, the certificates are a requirement. The interest in these certificates is big, both from the industry, the employers and the machine operators. However, this is not the case outside the forestry. Billions of tax money are being invested annually in nature conservation projects. A large part of these projects are then carried out by a machine operator... (More)
Integration of machine operators in nature conservation
– A demand for education

In Swedish forestry there are several educational programs that provides certificates in nature conservation and environmental considerations for machine operators (Blue & Green). The certificates are optional, but if a machine operator intends to work in licensed forests with a higher nature consideration, the certificates are a requirement. The interest in these certificates is big, both from the industry, the employers and the machine operators. However, this is not the case outside the forestry. Billions of tax money are being invested annually in nature conservation projects. A large part of these projects are then carried out by a machine operator who cannot choose to undergo education in nature conservation. One might think it would be up to each machine operator to choose if they want that information or not. But in order to choose, they have to be offered the choice.

This study examined whether or not there is a demand for education in nature conservation from the students who are training to become machine operators in Sweden today. We did a questionnaire survey with 307 students from both high school and adult education programs and conducted interviews with their course coordinators. Our aims were to investigate 1) If and when the demand for education occurs 2) If the course coordinators perceive that nature conservation education is requested by the students, and 3) Whether students would participate in a nature conservation course if it were offered to them.

Results
The results showed that there is both a high demand and a high interest in nature conservation education without any significant difference between the high school and adult education students (Figure 1). However, the results indicate that the need for education may be higher amongst high school students, as they expressed a higher level of uncertainty. We therefore suggest that both the demand and the need for education arise already in high school. In addition, a large number of students who had not thought about working with nature conservation wanted more information about nature conservation projects. The results suggest that when the participants had heard of nature conservation, they were curious and wanted to know more. This indicates that interest in nature conservation may in some cases be due to a simple lack of knowledge. Thus, the market for education in nature conservation for machine operators could be greater than many believe today.

Master degree project in biology 30 credits 2018
Department of Biology, Lund University

Advisors: Tina D’Hertefeldt, Sofia Hydbom, Department of Biology & Johanna Alkan Olsson, Centre for environmental and climate research (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Simonsson, Anna
supervisor
organization
course
BIOM02 20172
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
8939713
date added to LUP
2018-05-14 15:14:01
date last changed
2018-05-14 15:14:01
@misc{8939713,
  author       = {{Simonsson, Anna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Integration of machine operators in nature conservation – A demand for education}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}