A training series in partnership with Fair Forests Consulting

Environmental Justice in Urban and Community Forestry

At the Arbor Day Foundation, we believe everyone should have access to the powerful benefits of trees.

This condensed training, crafted in partnership with Dr. Christine Carmichael of Fair Forests Consulting, is part of our ongoing commitment to empowering all organizations to grow their environmental justice work in urban forestry.

The course takes a little more than one hour to complete. Through these resources, participants will develop a greater understanding of the pillars of environmental justice and form a plan to incorporate it into their work in communities.

Module one

Foundational Concepts and Evidence of Injustices

The content in this module defines and provides a look at the history of environmental justice. With this context, examples of environmental injustices in cities and towns are explored and the three pillars of environmental justice are defined using real-world examples.

Module two

Creating Goals and Equitable Engagement Strategies

Making a difference starts with actionable goals. This module provides a broad overview of the importance of making decisions together with communities, prioritizing goals in program design, and integrating community members’ experiences in goal metrics. It provides a framework for setting SMART goals and objectives and provides strategies for equitable and inclusive community engagement.

Module three

Developing an Action Plan and Measuring Success

After developing SMART goals, this module lays out a roadmap for developing actionable next steps. Examples of success metrics for environmental justice in urban forestry work are covered, including quantitative and qualitative indicators. Finally, this module covers how to analyze these datapoints to measure success.

Meet the Instructor

Dr. Christine Carmichael

Dr. Christine Carmichael, Ph.D. in Forestry from Michigan State University, is the founder of Fair Forests Consulting. She helps environmental organizations and government agencies improve multicultural partnerships in urban forestry and leads workshops on measuring the success of urban greening programs in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Want to learn more?

Active members of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Alliance for Community Trees network have access to our full environmental justice training series, with additional in-depth courses, resources, and more.