2024 Conference Agenda
Key
- General Session
- Breakout Sessions
- Breaks and Meals
Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024
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4th Floor Registration Bays: 7:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.Conference Check-In and Information
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Exhibit Hall: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast with Exhibitors
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Grand Ballroom: 8:35 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.Land Acknowledgement
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.Welcome to Chicago!
Dan Lambe, Arbor Day Foundation CEO
9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.Our Nation’s Urban Forests
9:05 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.Welcome to Illinois!
9:10 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.Chicago Welcome
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9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Engaged Cities
Red Lacquer: Partnerships
Empire Room: Workforce Development
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Exhibit Hall: 10:20 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.Morning Break
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10:50 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Urban Forest Management
Red Lacquer: Volunteer Programs
Empire Room: Research/Science
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Grand Ballroom: 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 pm.Welcome to Chicago Pt. 2
Bloomberg Associates -
Exhibit Hall: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.Box Lunch Pickup
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12:30 a.m. – 4:30 pm.Field Experiences
For Detailed Descriptions of the Field Experiences, Click Here -
SPIN Chicago: 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.344 N State St, Chicago, IL 60654
Networking Reception
Thursday, November 21
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4th Floor Registration Bays: 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.Conference Check-In and Information
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Exhibit Hall: 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.Breakfast with Exhibitors
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Grand Ballroom: 8:30 a.m. – 8:40 a.m.Partnering in the Urban Forest / Welcome Back to Chicago
USDA Forest Service
8:40 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.CommuniTree: A Regional Urban Forestry Collaborative
Jennifer Birchfield; Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission
Drew Hart; USFS
Leo Sawyers; Student Conservation Association
Summary: CommuniTree is a regional community forestry program that brings partners together to create a more diverse, healthy, and equitable urban forest. Serving one of the most industrialized areas of the country, CommuniTree engages with underserved communities to increase tree equity. Core CommuniTree partners, NIRPC, SCA, and USFS, will discuss the development of this growing and synergistic network based on the collective impact model. Partners will share tangible collaborative successes as well as lessons learned over the eight years of developing CommuniTree.
8:55 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.Treesilience Shows Its Resilience!
Jaylnn Webb; Imani Village
Rebecca Hankins; Forest ReLeaf of Missouri
Summary: Dying trees on private land pose risks to people and property, hindering new tree planting and appreciation for trees. Affordability is often a hurdle for tree removals and pruning. Treesilience, a growing national initiative, adopts a “remove 1, replace with 2” model to tackle these challenges. It supports tree removals, replacements, and mature tree pruning. Focus areas prioritize communities facing canopy threats to bolster urban forest resiliency. Learn about the impacts from Chicago participants, how to implement, and potential funding approaches.
9:10 a.m. – 9:25 a.m.Taking Schoolyard Forests to Scale Across the USA
Walter Passmore; CAL FIRE
Shannon Gamson Danks & Alejandra Chiesa; Green Schoolyard America
Summary: The California Schoolyard Forest System® is a statewide initiative to increase tree canopy on public school grounds to shade and protect PreK-12 students from extreme heat due to climate change. We will share insights and impacts from the first three years of this successful collaboration between two California government agencies and two nonprofit organizations. This will include a summary of actions, the effect of $150 million of grants, and goals for the future. We will also discuss efforts underway to expand this initiative to other states.
9:25 a.m. – 9:35 a.m.Fine-Tuning Priorities and Tracking Impact with Technology
Ian Hanou; PlanIT Geo
Summary: The CEJST mapping tool has helped guide urban forestry projects by highlighting disadvantaged communities. This presentation will demonstrate how that tool can be the first step in fine-tuning planting priorities. Attendees will see how various data sets and tools can be weighted to form a prioritization map and how technology supports tracking information for reporting requirements, quantifying impacts, and data-informed storytelling.
9:35 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.Trees First, Wood Next: Building a Roadmap for Urban Wood
Daniel Torres; Urban Wood Network
Jessica Sanders; Sacramento Tree Foundation
Summary: We all know the problem: Millions of tons of viable wood from urban trees are dumped into landfills yearly instead of being transformed into high-value, carbon-trapping products. We also know the solution: Stronger partnerships across the board. However, this goal has proven elusive. In this presentation, participants will learn about a new path forward led by Urban Wood Network. They’ll walk away with an action plan for fulfilling the promise of this industry and its proven benefits of good jobs, carbon solutions, and positive social impacts.
9:50 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.IRA and a National-Level Reporting Tool
David Sivyer; USFS
Paul Cooper; Arbor Day Foundation
Summary: Coming Soon -
Exhibit Hall: 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Morning Break
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10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Environmental Justice
Red Lacquer: Trees + Tech
Empire Room: Natural Areas
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11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Urban Wood
Red Lacquer: Youth Engagement
Empire Room: International Urban Forestry
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Grand Ballroom: 12:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.Lunch
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1:10 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Community Engagement
Red Lacquer: Trees + Tech
Empire Room: Food Forests
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2:00 p.m. – 2:35 p.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Research/Science
Red Lacquer: Tree Maintenance
Empire Room: Workforce Development
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2:45 p.m. – 3:25 p.m.Breakout Sessions
State Ballroom: Environmental Justice - Lightning Round
Red Lacquer: i-Tree
Empire Room: Research / Science
Grand Ballroom: Policy
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Exhibit Hall: 3:25 p.m. – 3:50 p.m.Afternoon Break
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Grand Ballroom: 3:50 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.The Future of Urban Forestry
3:50 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.Engaging Communities by Visualizing Tree-Based Cooling
Linda Powers Tomasso; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Public adoption of urban tree planting and climate-health-nature implementation goals can be accelerated through the use of dynamic visualization models and design prototyping to present to and solicit feedback from locally impacted communities. At Harvard, we have developed tangible state-of-the-art visualization tools that allow community residents to review tree-planting proposals and create partnerships for climate adaptation strategies. In this session, we present digital tools and feedback we learned from actual design charrettes in Springfield, MA.
4:20 p.m. – 4:40 p.m.Branching Into the Future: Urban Forestry’s Tech Evolution
Nadina Galle; The Nature of Our Cities
Summary: Dr. Nadina Galle envisions a future where nature and technology forge thriving, sustainable cities. Drawing from her book, 'The Nature of Our Cities,' she introduces the innovators driving this shift, showcasing technology's supporting role in urban forestry with a 'nature first, technology second' approach. Highlighting examples like AI-powered laser mapping, augmented reality, and advanced sensors, she offers strategies to address climate change, mental health, and urban resilience, emphasizing the vital connection between people and nature.
4:40 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.Closing Session
Dan Lambe; Arbor Day Foundation