Translating the UKFS

Using multi-media platforms to translate the technical information of the UK Forestry Standard

Forestry and timber use is complex enough. Add on layers of policy & guidance and there is often a need to be able to find your way through the complexity to an understanding or a specific answer. Finding ways to do this without needing a month to read dense technical documents is critical.

The UK Forestry Standard is the benchmark document for sustainable woodland management in the UK. Over 130 pages it sets out what has to be done and what is best practice in a well managed forest. Joining forces with Cumbria Woodlands and the Sylva Foundation we set out to produce material that provided an accessible way into the UKFS, to make sure people use it.

Filming next a Scheduled Ancient Monument to unravel the complexity of UKFS

Structuring the platforms

Our role was to create a suite of media that could integrate into Cumbria Woodlands 'Canopy Learning' - online platform for woodland training and into MyForest - a comprehensive online mapping tool and the latest resources to support sustainable forest management and the creation of new forests across the UK. They needed to be seen as short help segments within the MyForest platform as well as long-form "lessons" in Canopy Learning accompanied by text and rich visuals.

We used two main tools; video and animation. The animations helped explain complex subjects such as thinning, and were sometimes used overlaid on filmed footage to highlight relevant features or points of interest. We didn't want the films to be dry explainers, there's enough of that about, we wanted to hear from people using the UKFS in their daily lives as woodland owners and managers.

We filmed with NGOs, with private and public managers. We asked them how they use UKFS and how it might streamline (or not) their work.

Beyond the project

How we convey complex messages is what has led us into the media world. It's not just UKFS but silviculture as a concept; it's translation of scientific research into plain English for us, practitioners in the woods, the wider public. It's explaining how land use might change as climate and society changes. Much of our work is incidentally about translating complex information and in the future we think this will become an important focussed strand of our work.