The Vallée de Joux primary and secondary schools (known collectively as “EPS Vallée de Joux”) believe that studying tonewood through the lens of education in sustainable development provides a relevant way of raising awareness among pupils of the sustainability issues affecting the Risoud forest located in the immediate vicinity of the schools.
This project is an initiative put forward by members of the EPS Vallée de Joux teaching staff, who wanted to take full advantage of the newly created educational trail about Risoud tonewood that was inaugurated in the region in 2023.
The Risoud forest is internationally renowned for its exceptional wood: tonewood spruce. Only one in every 10,000 trees in this forest is perfect enough to use to produce musical instruments of the highest quality: guitars, violins, pianos, harps and so on. Thanks to centuries of sustainable forest management, this wood has acquired such global renown that the job of "tonewood tree picker" has been included on the canton of Vaud’s list of Intangible Heritage and Living Traditions.
EPS Vallée de Joux strongly believes in the pertinence of studying tonewood through the lens of education in sustainable development. It therefore approached the association that created the educational trail in order to develop an academic component. The aim of the project is to create outdoor teaching modules for teachers and pupils in collaboration with the educational guides working at the Parc naturel régional Jura vaudois. It also includes the production of teaching packs that will establish a link between the outdoor teaching sessions and classroom learning. Furthermore, the project seeks to create a range of partnerships between EPS Vallée de Joux and key professionals from the tonewood industry (forestry services, luthiers, etc.).
