2023 Urban Forest Symposium: Interweaving Indigenous Eco-Ethics & Healing into Urban Forestry

Come join us for the 2023 Urban Forestry Symposium, which will focus on Indigenous environmental stewardship, decolonizing climate justice narratives, food sovereignty and access, and the role of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s standards in building solutions in urban forestry. 

Morning keynotes will provide in-depth frameworks for the day. Speakers will provide background and context about Indigenous land management practices through their knowledge of Tribal cultural epistemology, heritage ways, and the diversification, indigenization, and decolonization of methodologies and actions around climate change. Introduction to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative’s (SFI) Forest Management Standards, with a focus on those that recognize and respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, will close out this session. 

A lunch by Metoncks Metsu (Feeding My Cousins) will allow attendees to share in traditional Native tastes and perspectives on food sovereignty. The panels following lunch will give actualized perspectives about ecological heritage ways and methodologies that are being incorporated into urban forest management. 

These afternoon sessions will further educate everyone about local projects that have effectively empowered and engaged communities in their planning, design, and implementation. 

Closing the day, participants will engage in a values mapping activity. Laying out sociocultural values and uses of lands and waters will offer a proactive model to better support the endeavors of diverse planners, researchers, and environmental advocates in this crucial arena. This activity – and the symposium overall – will generate a better understanding of how interactions between peoples, lands, waters, and all connective relations help to shape our urban forests