IN FEBRUARY, 2009, WCISA AND CALIFORNIA URBAN FORESTS COUNCIL (CAUFC) PARTNERED TO PRESENT two seminars entitled Urban Forestry-Future Perfect. The objective was to have urban and community forestry intersect with information and technologies relating to climate change, environmental systems and protocols, public health, social interaction, and our communities, ourselves, and our children. Attendees included arborists, urban foresters, students and educators, members of the public health industry, urban planners and designers, scientists and researchers, and the general public.

Many came to hear keynote speaker Richard Louv, author of LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, whose best-selling book discusses how access to natural places is vital to the physical, mental and emotional health of our children. Louv was followed by Dr. Desiree Backman, Deputy Director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, who spoke on “Healthy Places, Healthy People: The Urban Forest Meets Public Health”. Dr. Dick Jackson, Professor and Chair, Environmental Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, addressed public health as well, but focused on “Important Ways the Physical Environment Promotes Health,” including urban planning in designing, livable, healthy, communities. After lunch, The Center for Urban Forest Research unveiled “Protocol to Practical.” Paula Peper (UC Berkeley seminar) and Jim Simpson (UCLA seminar), partnered with Walt Warriner, Urban Forester for the City of Santa Monica, to discuss the planning and implementation of a greenhouse gas project using Santa Monica as a case study.

A handful left with action plans in hand to try out in their own communities.

Richard Barrera, former president of the Consensus Organizing Institute, discussed the important linkages among the speakers and facilitated small group discussions about what these presentations meant locally. He facilitated small group discussions regarding how the information could be used locally, and guided attendees through the community organization process.

One result of the workshops was the creation of "Success with Organizing in your Community" – an energized and cooperative simple guide for making things happen in communities where we live, work and play.

As we go about the work of making our communities more ecologically sustainable, we often focus on the content of projects and policies – on what we need to do. But we need to keep in mind that we live in a democracy, and that any effort to change our communities for the better needs to happen through an effective process, focused on who needs to take ownership of the projects and policies we seek to implement. The process of identifying, engaging, and partnering with key stakeholders to co-create our work is what community organizing is all about.

Get Inspired –
Download “In the Service of Life” - By Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen - an exerpt from: NOETIC SCIENCES REVIEW # 37, PAGE 24 - SPRING 1996 - Adapted from a talk given at IONS fourth annual conference, "Open Heart, Open Mind" in San Diego, California, July 1995. Dr Remen is Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine, and Director and Founder of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness at Commonwealth. She is the author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessings. For more information, please visit www.rachelremen.com.

Get Educated -
Download a printable version of “Success in Organizing Your Communities” here
Learn more about what a community organizer does by clicking here

Get Started –
Download steps in the organizing process here
Download a sample community organizing workplan here

Get Involved –
Become connected with others who share your passion for creating “urban forestry: future perfect” by joining our group on Linkedin. – Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture/Future Perfect

Resource Links:
http://consensus.sdsu.edu/history.html Consensus Organizaing Center at San Diego State University

http://www.naturewithin.info Human Dimension of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

http://depts.washington.edu/hhwb/ Green Cities Good Health

http://www.childrenandnature.org/ Children and Nature Network

http://richardlouv.com/ Richard Louv, author of Last child in the Woods

http://sactree.com Sacramento Tree Foundation

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/123/6/1591 The Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activities in Children, Dr. Dick Jackson

http://portal.ctrl.ucla.edu/sph/institution/publication-download?publication%5fid=678557 Environment Shapes Health, Dr. Richard Jackson

http://www.treepeople.org/21st-century-infrastructure-forum-explores-links-between-public-health-economy-and-environment 21st Century Infrastructure Forum Explores Links Between Public Health, Economy and Environment

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/cufr/ Center for Urban Forest Research

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