Society of Municipal Arborists Workshop & Conference
November 14 –15, 2022
Presented by: Society of Municipal Arborists
Event Information
The Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA) will hold its 58th annual International Urban Forestry Conference and Trade Show November 14th–15th at the Westin in Seattle, Washington. The theme of this year’s conference is the successful melding of trees and infrastructure, as well as successful partnerships between municipalities and nonprofits to further canopy goals in communities. Sessions at the conference will address:
- Using green infrastructure to improve tree equity and the mitigation of urban heat islands
- Integrating trees into planning and budgeting for gray infrastructure
- Adoption of municipal codes to accommodate green infrastructure design
- Collaborating with Engineering and Public Works departments to improve the melding of green and grey infrastructure
Call for Proposals
This years’ SMA conference seeks presentations that address the successful melding of trees and infrastructure (green and gray). We are also looking for presentations on successful partnerships between municipalities and nonprofits to further canopy goals in in communities. Topics of interest include,but are not limited to:
- Integrating trees into planning and budgeting of gray infrastructure
- Using green infrastructure to improve tree equity and to mitigate urban heat islands on public and private land
- Adapting a municipal code to accommodate green infrastructure design for climate change
- Collaborating with Engineering and Public Works departments to improve tree design during gray infrastructure upgrades or retrofits
- How green infrastructure design has changed over the last decade or more
The committee is also interested inproposals that highlight municipal/nonprofit partnerships that have resulted in achieving canopy goals, mitigating heat islands,and advancing publicly funded tree planting and maintenance programs. Potential topics could include:
- Overcoming barriers to attain improved partnerships between government agencies and non-profit organizations
- Partnerships that have resultedin a successful increase in community or municipal resources and capacity
- Unique contractual arrangements
All submissions should include a learning objective that conveys the presenter’s intent of what the attendees should learn from the presentation. Presentations should be 30 to 45 minutes long, or up to an hour for panel sessions. Please direct questions about the call for presentations/workshops to Stephen Harris at [email protected]. Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm EDT on May 16, 2022.
SMA Speaker Policy: It has long been a tradition at SMA that speakers are not paid an honorarium, reimbursed for travel, or given reduced registration rates. Most speakers have been from the field of urban and community forestry and have presented at the Annual SMA International Urban Forestry Conference as a way to give back to their professional association, share their knowledge, and interact with their peer colleagues. As a non-profit association, SMA has been able to keep conference attendance costs down for our members due to the dedication and generosity of our speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors.