2020

“Forest Comes to Jelgava” Festival to Start Very Soon

JSC “Latvia’s State Forests” (LVM) in cooperation with Latvia University of Agriculture Forest Faculty and other forest industry organizations and companies will host the event “Forest Comes to Jelgava 2020” (Mežs ienāk Jelgavā 2020), which is to take place on 17 April. The purpose of the event is to give an understanding of forest management in Latvia and to raise public awareness of the wide range of uses of wood. In preparation for the event, school students are invited to participate in a poster and video messaging competition that is open for applications until 3 April.

Within the framework of the competition “Forest in Our Daily Life” (Mežs mūsu ikdienā), preschool and elementary school students can design a poster for the Forest Days 2021 and the wooden sculpture festival “Forest Comes to Jelgava 2021”.

Terms of Reference of the Competition

In turn, students of general education schools and vocational education institutions have a task to develop a video message on the theme of “Tree is More”, reflecting trees and wood in the diversity of their uses.

Terms of Reference of the Video Competition

During the “Forest Comes to Jelgava 2020” events, those interested will have an opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and equipment used for forest management. Companies engaged in wood processing will tell and show the participants how value is added to wood by creating ecological products that carry the name of Latvia in the global export markets. For the very first time, entrepreneurs, who produce various items from wood and non-wood products derived from Latvian forests, have been invited to participate in the event. Those interested will have an opportunity to test their skills in working with hunting and forestry machine simulators, forestry and woodworking instruments and tools.

Educational stands will tell those present about the diversity of non-wood products that come from the forest, such as wood wool, edible and non-edible items from Latvian forests and nature. There will be demonstrations of logging machines and other equipment, as well as various woodworking processes: retro sawing, drawing on wood using current, wood construction and joining of parts with metre-long screws, as well as many other exciting things and activities.

This will be the third year of the event. The tradition of wooden sculpture festival “Second Wind” (Otrā elpa) will continue also this time. The festival will bring together Latvian and Lithuanian wood sculptors, and visitors will have an opportunity to observe the process of creating sculptures.

Participants will also be invited to take part in the international scientific and practical conference “Forest Sector in a Changing Climate” (Meža nozare mainīgā klimatā), which is to take place at Latvia University of Agriculture Forest Faculty (11 Akadēmijas Street, Jelgava) from 9.00 to 15.30. The conference will focus on sustainable management of Latvian forests; it will show how Latvian companies add value to wood produced in our forests by creating unique goods for export.

Conference programme: http://www.mf.llu.lv/lv/meza-dienas