Continuous Vocational Training for Sustainable Work Practices in Forestry

Abstract

Our work focuses on a theme related to the long-term strategic objectives of the EU in the field of education and training, as established by the EU Council since 2009. In the theoretical part of the paper, we presented the regulations regarding the continuous professional training in Romania, but also the institutions with attributions in the field of vocational training. The practical part is based on a case study conducted in a field that attracts much attention from the point of view of the current sustainability issues, namely in the forestry field.As methodology, we conducted an opinion poll by means of a questionnaire applied to a large part of the employees of the Gurghiu forestry zone in Mureș County Forestry Department. Our goal was the identification of the training needs of the employees, as well as the identification of their perception on the professional training at the organization level. The most important topics selected for analysis concern the types of courses followed by the employees, their opinions on their usefulness, on the importance of vocational training, on the correlation between the courses taken and their personal aspirations, as well as on the barriers involved in vocational training.Because in Romania the education through vocational schools has been neglected for several decades, this has affected the sustainability of working practices in different organizations that need qualified staff. We emphasize that it is very important to have more trainers and more training courses for workplace specialization, including in the forestry field.