Involving young people in peatland work - feedback from site managers
Review
Site
Kéroncel
What do site managers gain from the experience?
Both site managers involved in the project told me that their main purpose was to give young people the opportunity to gain experience. For them, nothing can teach them better and prepare them better for their future careers than concrete examples and hands-on-works.
The site managers have a strong wish to share their expertise with the students. As students themselves a few years ago, they know how important it is to see concrete examples and they want to give to their future colleagues the chance to get the best they can from the training. They themselves studied in similar courses: "There is so much you can gain from concrete examples, and even the best teacher can not replace a lived experience. We try to offer them what we ourselves would have liked to have experienced."
Some of the students might eventually not specialise in site management (indeed few will actually work in natural sites). But thanks to this and similar experiences, they will know what a natural site requires in term of techniques, time and care. That will be a plus for the future managers, says Tiphaine Baron. The present-day managers agree: "We do hope that this experience, our advice and example will make them better prepared to work later in natural sites, whichever specialities they choose."
An adaptable and fresh team
According to Tiphaine Baron, working with students who have an environmental background is pleasant for site managers: "Indeed, the majority of them already have an environmental consciousness and are aware of the sensitivity and richness of natural sites. They are well prepared to work as softly as possible. They try to do their best to get or keep a site as its best. They already know or will quickly understand the precautions they have to take in order not to disturb the habitat too much. The quality of their work is valuable."
Young and eager to work, they are open to instructions. Most of them take the site manager's advice seriously. They are curious and eager to learn, are reactive and motivated to implement new techniques. Working in a team is also a fantastic source of motivation: "There is a good dynamic in all the teams we met so far," said the site managers.
Cheap work forces and materials
Finally, working with groups of young students provides quite a cheap workforce which comes with its own material. Indeed, since fieldwork is part of the students'; courses, French schools have a specific budget for transport to the site, food and sometime for accommodation.
Site manager: Site manager:
Students at work
