11-12 March 2023
On 11-12 March 2023 KU Team visited SKU. The Dean of KU Graduate School, Assoc. Prof. Srijidtra Charoenlarpnopparut, paid a visit to Assoc. Prof. Sitha Khemmarath, the Vice President of SKU on Research and Postgraduate Studies, to pay respects and discuss future collaboration on graduate studies. Assoc. Prof. Srij idtra Charoen larpnopparut gave a special lecture to Engineering students on the importance of electrical Engineering and communication engineering. Assoc. Prof. Songklod Jarusom buti and Asst. Prof. Nopparat Kaakkurivaara visited the wood processing workshop to explore opportunities and discuss arrangements for equipment installation. KU teams met with Dr. Somphong Chanthavong and SKU team to discuss upcoming capacity building activities, including dates, responsible individuals, participant numbers, and activity detaiIs.
30 January 2023
On the 30th January 2023, the Wood Technology Workshop has started for a week as the second workshop in Savannnakhet, Lao PDR under the capacity building activities of FRAME project, Erusmus+ , this workshop jointly organized by CZU and SKU, the participants from Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR
27 January 2023
Friday is the field day! January the 27th, 2023, is the fifth and last day of the Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Bioeconomy course jointly organized by CZU and SKU. The group of FRAME’s partnered universities, including Chiang Mai University (CMU) and Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR, went to Xonbuly town, outside Savannakhet City, to visit the National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary. The group?i’s excited to see the deers in their natural habitat of dry dipterocarp forest. Before returning to the city, the group discussed the sanctuary’s situation with the park rangers and graduate students from SKU.
26 January 2023
It’s all about “Management” on Thursday! January the 26th, 2023, is the forth day of the Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Bioeconomy course jointly organized by CZU and SKU. The group of FRAME’s partnered universities, including Chiang Mai University (CMU) and Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR, attended a whole-day lecture by Martin Cabrada with a discussion section on several aspects of management as a subject and project management as a case study.
25 January 2023
Wednesday's a great midweek day to learn about NTFPs! January the 25th, 2023, is the third day of the Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Bioeconomy course jointly organized by CZU and SKU. The group of FRAME’s partnered universities, including Chiang Mai University (CMU) and Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR, attended a whole-day lecture by Dr. Kalabova on Non-Timber Products Management (NTFPs). Dr. Kalabova had a fun Kahoot activity for the participants to play at the bebinning to learn an introduction to NTFPs. The participants also joined a group discussion on hunting tourism possibilities in Lao PDR and Thailand.
24 January 2023
January the 24th, 2023, is the second day of the Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Bioeconomy course jointly organized by CZU and SKU. The group of FRAME’s partnered universities, including Chiang Mai University (CMU) and Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR, attended the first lecture in the morning by Prof Remes on Sustainable Plantation Forestry - Nursery materials and silviculture intervention. Then, Dr. Martin Jankovsky provided another lecture on Harvesting Operations in Forests in the afternoon.
23 January 2023
January the 23rd, 2023, featured a cool and misty morning in Suvannnakhet, Lao PDR, for a group of FRAME’s partnered universities, including Chiang Mai University (CMU) and Kasertsart University (KU), Thailand, and Souphanouvong University (SU) and Savannakhet University (SKU), Lao PDR, to start the day. It’s the beginning day of the Sustainable Forest Management and Forest Bioeconomy course jointly organized by CZU and SKU. Professor Remes of CZU gave a lecture on forest resource management and planning for the first day. The day was ended nicely with a lovely welcome dinner.
22 December 2022
Testing four types of drones ready for the workshop - Air2S for manual flight training, Phantom4ProV for photogrammetry, Phantom multispectral/RTK for high precision forest monitoring and the T10 heavy lift for spraying etc. Participants will learn flying by the sticks, and how to fly the automated flight plans they will have prepared on Day 1 of the workshop. Images gathered will be analyzed on Day 3. We also have an array of distinguished speakers, lined up for Day 4 - some live, some by Zoom covering a diverse range of forest-drone related topics. 11 FRAME participants have registered for the workshop so far.
9 December 2022
Last but not least! The fourth and last day of the VR in Teaching Training at KU in Bangkok, on the 9th of Dec, 2022, was about modeling forest growth. Participants from FRAME partners, CMU and KU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, learned how to model forest growth using Sibyla software with instructions from CZU staffs for the entire day. This whole week was productive and applicable for the training participants. The training is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
8 December 2022
(Almost) the last day! The third day of the VR in Teaching Training at KU in Bangkok, on the 8th of Dec, 2022, was about the VR itself as implied the training title. Participants from FRAME partners, CMU and KU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, learned the whole day how to build VR media from point cloud data with instructions from CZU staffs. The training is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
7 December 2022
It's a practical day! The second day of the VR in Teaching Training at KU in Bangkok, on the 7th of Dec, 2022, was about data collection and analysis. Participants from FRAME partners, CMU and KU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR learned about LiDAR today with instructions from CZU staffs. They were instructed about data collection of terrestrial laser scanning and photos for 3D construction in the morning. The afternoon session was about data analysis for point cloud and 3D object. The training is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
6 December 2022
The VR in Teaching Training at KU in Bangkok has been started today, the 6th of Dec, 2022! Participants from FRAME partners, CMU and KU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR met and greeted on this first day with instructors from CZU. The activities are all about R-package for remote sensing for the entire day. The training is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
2 December 2022
The 2nd of Dec, 2022, is the last day of the FRAME event, Role of Higher Education Institute (HEI) in Sustainable Forest Management and Bio-economy. On this day, participants from FRAME partners, CMU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, joined the discussion session on Identifying gaps in knowledge, skills, attitude, and competences, related to Bioeconomy and Sustainable Forest Management. The participants then identified potential activities possibly performed in the last year of the FRAME project, which will be ended in November, 2023. The participants were rather satisfied with the week-long capacity building event, which is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Erasmus+ Program of the EU.
1 December 2022
The 1st Dec, 2022 is the fourth day of the FRAME event, Role of Higher Education Institute (HEI) in Sustainable Forest Management and Bio-economy. On this day, participants from FRAME partners, CMU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, participated in the Workshop on Forest Biogeography in the morning and in the first half of the afternoon. Then, Dr. Nicholas Hogarth did an online presentation from Zambia on "Perspective of Forestry Education in the Asia-Pacific and Opportunities for Lifelong Learning Development" followed by a group discussion related to his presentation. The event is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
30 November 2022
The 30th Nov, 2022 is the third day of the FRAME event, Role of Higher Education Institute (HEI) in Sustainable Forest Management and Bio-economy. On this day, participants from FRAME partners, CMU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, were lectured on Bioeconomy as a concept, Forest bioeconomy description, Systems thinking approach, and Forest bioeconomy in particular sectors, in the morning. In the afternoon, the participants were lectures on Implementation of bioeconomy approach in policy, Transition barriers, and Forest bioeconomy application examples. The event is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
29 November 2022
On the 29th Nov, 2022, the Second day of the FRAME workshop in Sustainable Forest Management of the private sector in Thailand (SCGP company), is a good company working with FSC standards for sustainable forest management (SFM) in Thailand. The event is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
28 November 2022
On the 28th Nov, 2022, the first day of the FRAME event, Role of Higher Education Institute (HEI) in Sustainable Forest Management and Bio-economy was started. Participants from FRAME partners, CMU (Thailand) and SKU and SU of Lao PDR, visited the Donslap-Laokhaun plantation of the Forest Industry Organization (FIO). Successful and unsuccessful attempts at sustainable forest management in Thailand were discussed. The event is jointly organized by KU and CZU. The FRAME project is sponsored by the Eramus+ Program of the EU.
23 November 2022
On the 23rd of November, 2022, FORRU-CMU staffs met to finalize online lecture and VDO contents of the new FRAME-sponsored MOOC course entitled Fundamental Ecosystem Restoration, which will be available thru Chiang Mai University's School of Lifelong Education (LE) in 2023. Doi Suthep Nature Center crew also attended this meeting to provide their VDO-footage inputs from the recent workshop on Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Program organized by FORRU_CMU to compliment to MOOC course.
22 November 2022
On the 22nd of November, 2022, all FRAME partners met online for another consortium meeting. Meeting agenda included Project updates (Midterm report, staff exchange, and etc.) from UH, Updates from other partners, and Upcoming activities such as remaining trainings in 2023, and other urgently emerging issues. The second, of the total three, year of the FRAME project has just been ended in this November. All activities are going along rather well.
15 November 2022
On the 15th of Nov, FORRU-CMU senior staffs met onsite to discuss various topics related to the FRAME project management and planning. The discussed topics included Summarising the first European staff exchange trip, Planning FORRU's 2023 workshops for the other Southeast Asian partners, and Nominating staffs and students for the upcoming workshops in Bangkok and Lao PDR.
14 November 2022
The EU's FRAME project sponsors the revision of the existing course, 202484 Restoration Ecology, of CMU's Biology Department at Faculty of Science. The coure is, therefore, updated with new teaching materials, and is aimed for upper-level undergraduate students. It contains lectures and practicals.
11 November 2022
Today is the last day of the workshop. Participants from KU, SKU, and SU, finished their week of the workshop "Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Program" with lectures and a discussion at Doi Suthep Nature Center (DSNC). The lecture and discussion topics included continuation of yesterday’s lectures on Managing information and selecting species, Managing logistics of restoration projects, FORRU’s education and outreach programs, and Social aspects of forest restoration. A demonstration of FORRU database was also included. They ended the workshop week with Open forum – Discussion group. It’s anticipated that all activities and discussion topics on this workshop would be adapted for benefits of their places. The workshop is sponsored by the EU's Erasmus+ Programme under the FRAME project.
10 November 2022
It's the last day out, and it's a another great day weatherwise to visit long-term forest restoration plots of FORRU, north of Chiang Mai city. Participants from KU, SKU, and SU, continued their week of the workshop "Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Porgram" with a trip to Ban Mae Sa Mai. The field activities included Monitoring early forest restoration (ground survey, data collection and analysis, and using of drones), Forest restoration results, Biodiversity monitoring, Drones and the workshop are sponsored by the EU's Erasmus+ Programme under the FRAME project.
9 November 2022
It's another great clear-sky day for outing! Participants from KU, SKU, and SU, continued their week of the workshop "Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Porgram" with a travel up Doi Suthep for the second day. The field activities included Things about seeds (extraction, treatments, germination experiments, data collection, and analysing results), Potting and seedling growth experiments, Tree care in nurseries, Cuttings and wildings, and Production scheduling. They ended their day with a visit to Doi Suthep Temple, one of the most revered, and probably the most visited, temples in Chiang Mai.The workshop is sponsored by the EU's Eramus+ Programme under the FRAME project.
8 November 2022
The second day of the workshop is a field day! Participants from KU, SKU, and SU, continued their week of the workshop "Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Porgram" with a travel up Doi Suthep or Mount Suthep as Doi is a northern Thai word for mountains. The mountain is conveniently adjacent to the CMU campus. The field activities included Observations of deciduous and evergreen forests, with some discussions about challenges restoring them when degraded, Tree phenology, Nature trail transvering and visiting Doi Suthep summit, and Seed and herbarium specimen collections at FORRU's nursery on the mountain. The workshop is sponsored by the EU's Eramus+ Programme under the FRAME project.
7 November 2022
Participants from KU, SKU, and SU, started their first day of the workshop "Establishing and Managing a Forest Restoration Teaching and Research Program" with lectures at Doi Suthep Nature Center (DSNC), Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, on various topics ranging from Defining forest ecosystem restoration, Forest degradation and succession, Costs and benefits of forest restoration, Establishing and managing a FORRU, Voucher specimens, Seed supply and seed banking. They then visited an onsite seed bank at DSNC and a nursery off CMU campus and ended the day with a welcome dinner. The workshop is sponsored by the EU's Eramus+ Programme under the FRAME project.
25 October 2022
A brand new course is to be offered via the Environmental Science international undergraduated program of CMU's Faculty of Science in this coming second semester of the 2022 academic year in late November. The course is composed of lectures and practicals and will be taught by members of FORRU's experienced staffs. It was developed with the financial support from the EU's FRAME project.
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October 2022
In October 2022, the FRAME partner universities from Thailand (Kasetsart University and Chiangmai University) and Laos (Savannakhet University and Souphanouvong University) safely arrived in Helsinki, Finland, these are to join an exchange staff program for comprehensive staff capacity at the University of Helsinki from 2-14 October 2022. On the first day, all participants have been warmly welcomed by the FRAME project team manager of Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) with speech opening program activities, a Campus walk and visits to the city centre. From the 2nd to 3rd day, we lectured about grant proposals, academic writing skills and conferences.
12 September 2022
On September the 12th, 2022, FORRU's FRAME's teachers and supporting staffs met via Zoom to plan the workshop on Forest Restoration Planning and Management. The workshop will be held during the 7th - 11th of November of this year. The workshop will be attended by FRAME's partners from Lao PDR and Thailand. The workshop participants should have an idea how to set up FORRU style unit at their home institutes after the workshop.
1 August 2022
Today we hosted Dipjoy Chakma, co-ordinator of the FRAME project A morning of project talk - preparing for mid project report and workshops at the DS Nature Centre. Afternoon - demonstrating use of drone, bought by the project budget, at FORRU-CMU's 2007 deciduous forest restoration plots at Huay Thung Tao.
13 July 2022
CMU's FORRU's managers and teachers of the FRAME project met online on the 13th July 2022 to design detailed course materials for the MOOC on forest restoration. The MOOC course is destined for the general public and enthusiasts to learn basic knowledge about forest restoration and its optional fundamental practicals. The FRAME Project is funded by the EU's Erasmus+ Programme, which is on-going, until November, 2023.
28 June 2022
A new course for CMU graduate students!
Forest restoration science and research (202871) is available this semester. The course covers all aspects of forest restoration, from tree nursery techniques to using technology for monitoring. Students will learn with experts and use new technology, especially in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). This course is developed by FORRU-CMU team under FRAME project (co-funded by ERAMUS+Programe of the European Union).
14 June 2022
The mid-term management meeting is currently taking place at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (Fakulta lesnická a dřevařská - ČZU v Praze). #frameerasmus project members finally have the opportunity to meet in person. During the next 2 days, they will have the chance to discuss the implementation progress so far and plan activities for the second half of the implementation period.
16 March 2022
On March 16th, 2022, FORRU-CMU held an online meeting with Souphanouvong University (SU) FRAME members to discuss future project plans. According to SU, they intend to establish a tree nursery on campus in accordance with FORRU's guidelines. In summary, partners set a date and program for a 5-day workshop at Chiang Mai University at the end of this year. More project activities were also planned for 2023, which is the last year of the project.
28 Fubuary 2022
All FRAME partners met online on the 28th Feb, 2022, for another project consortium meeting. The partners updated one another on project progress, curriculum development, future trainings in Laos and Thailand, Lao and Thai staff visit to UH and CZUP, and mid-term meeting in Prague. The consortium meeting was very productive and beneficial for all the partners.
8 Fubuary 2022
FORRU-FRAME members practiced flying drones on February 8, 2022, at the forest restoration plot MAE KI village in Mae Rim district, Chiang Mai with two goals: 1. calibrating distance-height relationships, and 2. learning new instruction for each drone model. Finally, the staffs acquired data and developed instruction to fit each drone model for the new course at the Biology Department and the Environmental Science Program, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, and the MOOC course scheduled to be started in June, 2022. All UAVs are supplied through the EU-FRAME project.
17 January 2022
17 January 2022, FORRU-FRAME team practiced precision flying using the newly acquired RTK–Multispectral drone supported by the EU-FRAME project. Finally, the protocol for our multispectral drone and RTK features were developed. This exciting new drone will be used for both teaching and research under the FRAME project and in the long term of FORRU's research and education activities.
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20 December 2021
On 20th December 2021, FORRU staffs were trained by the drone company to know and be familiar with new UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Drones) and their operations. These drones will be used in course teaching and practicals as parts of two new and one improved EU-FRAME-supported courses at Chiang Mai University to be started in mid 2022, including research related to forest restoration. One of the new courses will be MOOC. The UAVs are supplied through the FRAME project.
13 December 2021
UH hosted a Zoom gathering of all the FRAME partners to update on course development. Topics discussed included common and national course templates, how the courses will be reviewed by reviewers., and timeline. The course development activities of all the involved partners are well underway.
8 December 2021
The FRAME project is featured on page 11 of issue 37 of the SAMARA newsletter. For more detail, please click here.
26 October 2021
All the FRAME partners met online via Zoom on the 26th October 2021 for the second project consortium. The updated issues were project activities, quality control and dissemination plans, equipment procurement, and curriculum development process. Overall, the project has been progressing according to plan.
28 September 2021
On September the 28th 2021, the FRAME’s MOOC training was completed. Participants received an experience on MOOCs demonstration and shared ideas through other online platforms among the organizations. This training provided an opportunity to develop courses that suitable for learners and lecturers that they will be able to create their own courses in the future.
23 September 2021
On September 23rd, 2021, Helsinki University held the second MOOC course online training for FRAME program. It was begun with a recap of the previous session's lecture (MOOC and online courses) by HU's expert. Moreover, the questions at the end of the topic review were provided for further information to the participants. FRAME's members learned how to use and design MOOC in this week's session. Furthermore, this session was fundamental and helpful in creating the framework of MOOC in the following training topic.
14 September 2021
Close to 30 academic staffs from CMU, KU, SKU, and SK, participated in another pedagogy training of the FRAME project hosted by UH on the 14th Sept 2021. This time the course was focused on MOOC and online courses (concepts, creation using the Moodle system, their relations to the pedagogical principles, assignments, and assessment types).
31 August 2021
The 3rd pedagogical principles online program on the topic of design thinking was completed on August 31, 2021. Mr. JANI HOLOPAINEN (UH Expert) gave an opportunity from each university working in group to discuss their ideas, goals, procedures, and evaluation methods. Experts also provided feedback and comments. Participants learned and discussed about design storyboard (for MOOC and Virtual Reality) to assist course planning and platforms that will enable effectiveness of building a learning material, applied for both teachers and students who attend the course. In addition, the participants learned about principle of design thinking model to create and monitor evaluation. This training program helps the FRAME working group in designing effective courses.
25 August 2021
On August 25th, 2021, the University of Helsinki held the second online pedagogical training on the topic of Pedagogical Principles: Constructive Alignment. Mr. Jani HOLOPAINEN (Expert from UH) started this session by discussing the feedback from the previous training, followed by an explanation about direct and indirect measures of learning. Participants in each group shared experiences among their university colleagues. Then, Mr. HOLOPAINEN explained about MOOC and how to create course evaluation. Finally, the course evaluation was applied for the university’s teaching topic in accordance with pedagogical principles.
17 August 2021
The University of Helsinki held an online pedagogy training on August 17th, 2021. This FRAME training was attended by representatives from all ASIAN partners of the project. The contents of this session was pedagogical principles and course designing based on the pedagogical models and principles. The participants discussed and exchanged experiences about teaching in various subjects. However, this practical training would make the courses better suited for prospect students.
29 June 2021
Dr. Elliott and Wangpakapattanawong joined the 2nd FRAME consortium meeting on the 29th of June 2021 along with representatives from all partners. The main meeting goal was to evaluate the progress of all partners at the end of the preparation phase. Dr. Elliott presented the progress of CMU's FORRU whose workpieces have been advanced according to the project proposed timeframe.
27 May 2021
CMU's FRAME team members held an online meeting on the 27th May 2021 with CMU's School of Lifelong education (LE) and FRAME's EU partner University of Helsinki's Dipjoy Chakma, Dr. Jani Holopainen and Antti Lahtevanoja, to hear UH's experiences and examples on MOOC courses and pedagogy. UH's experts also showed examples of using Virtual Reality (VR) in teaching. CMU's LE also presented about CMU's MOOC's and LE's platforms on online courses.
17 May 2021
CMU's FRAME team members held an online meeting, as a result of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, on the 17th May 2021, with CMU's School of Lifelong Education (LE) to design MOOC courses on forest restoration. CMU (Chiang Mai University) has committed to lifelong education for alumni and the general public whom are called "learners". Those learners may later become CMU students. FORRU has taken this opportunity financially supported by Eramus+ to disseminate practical knowledge on forest restoration to a wider audience through the CMU's LE's online platform.
7 May 2021
CMU's Frame team members held an online meeting, as a result of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, on the 7th May 2021 to elaborate on lecture and practical contents of the graduate course on Forest Restoration Science and Research. The course is based primarily on existing research-based teaching materials of FORRU (Forest Restoration Research Unit). Some of the stakeholders' comments from the Need Assessment workshop on the 9th April are also taken into account in the course deliberation.
9 April 2021
A FRAME's Need Assessment workshop was done successfully online with stakeholders from government sector, NGOs, universities, and private company, on the 9th April hosted by CMU's Sciecnce Faculty's Doi Suthep Nature Center. The workshop was to gather the participants' comments and suggestions on regular and online courses related to forest restoration to be developed and improved through CMU's Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU).
5 April 2021
Today on 5 April 2021 at 15:00. We are the FRAME's project team co-funded by ERASMUS+. We had an online meeting between teachers from the Department of Forest Resource, Faculty of Agriculture and Forest Resource, Souphanouvong University and Professor in Department of Biology from Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss on the equipment and other related issues for setting up Nursery and Tree plantation plots.
15 March 2021
Ach. Prasit and Ach. Steve had a chance to present the FRAME project to H.E. Ambassador Jyri Järviaho from Finland and Finnish Embassy staff on 15th March, during a workshop on “Education Innovation and Sustainability” at Chiang Mai University – a fortuitous meeting, since Helsinki University is co-ordinating the project (funded by the EU’s Erasmus program). FRAME will support development of undergrad and grad courses in forest restoration at CMU and an online Diploma course. H.E. Ambassador Kjersti Rdsmoen from Norway, H.E. Ambassador Jon Strm Grndahl from Sweden and H.E. Ambassador Jon Thorgaard, from Denmark, also attended the workshop.