DAEJEON — Wood education specialists from across South Korea will gather for the first time at a national conference this month.
The Korea Wood Culture Association said on the 16th that it will hold the 1st National Wood Education Conference on Oct. 26 at the Pyeongchang Wood Culture Experience Center and surrounding areas in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon State. The Korea Forest Service is hosting the event, with sponsorship from Pyeongchang County.
Held under the theme "Wood Education: Sharing, Learning and Connecting," the conference will bring together wood education specialists and staff from related institutions and organizations nationwide to share field experience and build networks.
Wood education specialists hold a national certification issued by the Korea Forest Service, qualifying them to teach the public about wood and guide hands-on programs at facilities such as wood culture experience centers.
The conference will also feature exhibition and hands-on booths. Participants will be able to see and try out materials and equipment for use in their own classes through displays of award-winning teaching materials from a wood education program competition, exhibitions and demonstrations of major woodworking machinery by manufacturers and distributors, and sales booths for teaching tools, textbooks and educational kits.
Two special lectures will be held to strengthen instructors' teaching capabilities and deepen their understanding of wood. In the morning, Kim Min-sik, an adviser at Naechon Woodworking Studio and author of "The Time of Trees," will speak on the humanities of wood. In the afternoon, Woo Ji-hoo, head of the Small Woodworking Studio in the Forest, will share experience running a woodworking studio in a rural area under the title "I Am a Country Carpenter."
The venue will also include spaces for exchange, sharing and conversation among participants. Attendees will be able to speak freely not only with fellow specialists but also with officials from public institutions, operators of private woodworking studios and suppliers of teaching tools and equipment. Organizers expect the event to connect those who provide wood education with those who seek it.
An awards ceremony for the 1st Wood Education Program Competition will also take place. Winners were selected through preliminary and final rounds from programs designed by wood education specialists. The grand prize winner will receive an award from the head of the Korea Forest Service, while recipients of the first, second and encouragement prizes will receive awards from the chairman of the Korea Wood Culture Association.
The association plans to compile the winning entries into a collection and distribute it to educational sites, broadening the base of high-quality wood education programs.
"This is the first occasion for wood education practitioners across the country to share and learn from the programs they have planned and developed," said Lee Su-bin, an official at the Korea Wood Culture Association. "We will support wood education practitioners so that they are recognized for their expertise and can grow together."