In more and more countries now "the Skogsmulle song" can be heard (in Swedish!) and the call of Forest Mulle can be heard in forests all over the world
"Låt oss gå på upptäcktsfärd i vår vackra värld."
In Norway the Forest Mulle activities began in Volda. In 1990 the foundation I Ver og Vind, a sister organisation to the Swedish foundation I Ur och Skur, was formed. A local group, part of the Swedish Association for Promotion of Outdoor Life, was then created in 1991. Today Forest Mulle activities are to be found in several "barnehager" ( kinder gartens ) in various parts of Norway. The contact is Berit Koen in Volda.
The Forest Mulle activities were introduced (in Swedish) in the spring 1979 by the organization "Konditionsfrämjandet". The pioneers and souls of fire in Finland were Gunilla Cavonius and Marjatta "Pipsa" Nykänen. In the Finnish language the activities started in 1992 by "Pipsa" and were called "Metsamörri" as "Mulle" does not suit the Finnish language. The Finnish mulle-activities were 1995 incorporated in the organization Suomen Latu where up to now more than 2000 leaders have been educated.
Japan has formed "Friluftsfrämjandet of Japan". An organization which (2007) consists of seven local groups and a total of one thousand members. Forest Mulle ("Skogsmulle") was introduced in Ichijima, Japan by Sachiko Takami. She was already a group leader for "Skogsmulle" in Sweden when she and her brother started "Friluftsfrämjandet of Japan". Now (2007) they have had over seventy classes for future group leaders (the first one's with assistance from Sweden) and now more and more "Skogsmulle schools" are starting with great enthusiasm.
Russia "Skogmulle" was introduced in Russia in 1997. The Russian host organization is "Neva River Clearwater" in St. Petersburg, an organization aiming for the making the river Neva and its outflow in the ocean much cleaner. The first class for future Mulle leaders was held in the autumn of 1997 by the Swedish leaders Ulla Wihlborg, Bromma and Solveig Ahlstroem, Taeby. Contact persons are Marilyn Barden, Vaermdoe, Sweden. and in Russia Konstantin Nemchinov, St. Petersburg.
The second international Skogsmulle Symposium was held in St Petersburg August 19-22, 2005 with participants from Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Latvia, Sweden and Russia.
Ilga Nilsson, a leader in Lidingoe local group, met in 1993 Anita Ierike in Saldus in Latvia and made her interested in Forest Mulle activities. This was the starting point for activities in Latvia. Several courses have been held by Swedish leaders and an exchange of ideeas with Sweden has been established. A separate organization, Dzive Daba, was formed in 2000 and acts as a basis for the activities. The activities in Latvia were in the beginning performed through the Lidingoe local group with support from the Swedish Department for Environment and from SIDA.
In Schrobenhausen, Bayern, Anita Egle is running a "Mullewaldschule" as part of the activities within Bund Naturschutz in Bayern e.V..
Rosaleen Joyce visited Sweden in 2004 with two other British colleagues. She was so inspired by what she saw that she wrote two books on outdoor learning and set up a network called POLNET which means, Promoting Outdoor Learning Network. This group works with practitioners in schools, voluntary and independent settings to promote outdoor learning. POLNET has now become a limited company. 8 practitioners from POLNET came to Lidingo in May 2007 to do a 3 day Skogsmulle training course. They all went home exhausted and inspired. If you want to contact Rose for more details her email address is: rosaleen_joyce@yahoo.co.uk
Many Mulle leaders that have left Sweden have started Forest Mulle in their new countries (e.g. in Germany, Great Britain, Estonia and in several places in the U.S.). Lack of a host organization made education etc. difficult. The activities have been depending on one person only and when this key individual has left there has not been any follow-up.
In February, 1999, Forest Mulle - or "Mule del Monte" - was seen in southern Mexico. A course about how pre school children can learn ecological concepts in a stimulating way was held February 6 -7 at Piña Palmera, Oaxaca, Mexico. Participants were 16 pre school teachers. Leaders for the course were Stina and Anna Johansson.
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