Our Approach
This project used personal insights from these workshops to guide the creation of tools to support grassroots initiatives and change this inequity. By working together, communities across the country can overcome environmental challenges – and start a movement that sweeps the nation.
Collaborative Workshops
The five two-hour collaborative workshops explored the following questions:
- Needs & Values: What community strengths, needs, and concerns should organizers understand and consider? How do heritage, culture, and lived experiences shape your views?
- Information: What kind of information about the benefits and types of urban and community forestry resonates with you and your community? In what form? And from whom?
- Involvement: How should community members be involved in planning, decision-making, and implementing initiatives related to urban and community forestry?
A National Effort
We must increase the momentum for community-led planning and caring for local trees, green spaces, and nature. In order to accomplish this, accessible tools to effectively communicate the benefits of natural surroundings in terms of health, environmental challenges, and economic justice are vitally needed.
Collaboration is Key
Through discussions and conversations, participants attended these workshops to design communication tools that will work for their communities. The participants were from organizations that focus on equity for seven demographic groups.
Participants were from all over the United States and its surrounding territories, in roles such as senior services, civic organizations, schools, food justice, childcare, immigrant services, and much more.
