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Concurrent Education Session

SUN-C01: The Complex Nature of Mini-Forests: Promises and Perils of Urban Restorative Forest-Making

Sunday, October 6, 2024
2:00pm – 3:15pm ET
Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Room 147AB
1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AICP, FL

Mini-forests have made their way to America with the promise of a natural succession shortcut to mature forests within urban environs. Mini-forests are celebrated for biodiversity, carbon sequestration benefits, and accessibility for grassroots rewilding, but what opportunities and precautions should be considered as timeless approaches to forest-making are remixed and popularized?

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand myths and facts about mini-forests, the principles behind the Miyawaki method, and its affinities with traditional approaches to landscape restoration.
  • Consider impacts and opportunities for landscape architects and nursery practitioners to dive into complex issues such as genetic sourcing and assisted migration.
  • Explore contract innovations to integrate growers at the design stage, outside the typical fast-track timelines of standard construction.
  • Probe the social impacts of mini-forests as opportunities for grassroots empowerment to transform yards, plots, and parking lots into agents of nature within disturbed environments.