Students step into sustainable forestry with ForestVR™

How do you make the world of forests, sustainability, and tech careers come alive for students and communities? At the recent Try a Trade & Employment Expo in Tumut, NSW, Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) did just that — giving students an immersive and hands-on look at modern forestry using ForestLearning‘s ForestVR™.

The important role of FWPA’s ForestLearning program

FWPA’s ForestLearning initiative supports the education of the next generation with valuable learning resources for teacher and educators.

By having access to quality, curriculum aligned teaching resources, the program ensures schoolteachers, educators and the public are served with evidence-based information on Australian forests and wood products. One of the most popular resources is the teaching tool and library of virtual reality and 360° videos, ForestVR™.

With everything from drone technologies and eucalyptus leaves to ForestVR™ virtual reality headsets on display, students discovered how forestry careers blend science, technology, environmental stewardship and practical skills — all aligned with the real-world curriculum topics many teachers are already covering in subjects like science, geography, and design & technologies.

Hands-on Learning with Real-World Tools

At the FCNSW booth, students were invited to:

• Touch and explore native and plantation species like eucalyptus and pine
• See forestry tech in action with drone demos and interactive mapping apps
• Connect to careers through casual conversations with team members in both boots and suits — showing the wide range of pathways in forestry
• Experience ForestVR™, stepping into Australian forests to witness 30 years of forest growth and management, sustainable harvesting with high-tech machinery, and advanced timber processing using laser scanners and ultrasound. They also experienced a “day in the life” of forestry professionals — from environmental foresters to wood processing cadets — gaining insight into real-world careers and sustainable forest management in action.

“ForestVR™ provided students the ultimate immersive experience,” said Billie-Jo Brown, Southern Planning Manager at FCNSW.

As this event showed, students were eager to explore the environment in new ways — especially when it’s immersive, interactive, and real-world context. ForestVR™ helps industry event exhibitors introduce complex topics like forest cycles, land use, and sustainable design in a way that’s engaging and helps to improve understanding of their important work.

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Source & image credit: FWPA