Rethinking the Urban Forest conference

Addison Road Community Centre initiated and hosted the Rethinking the Urban Forest cross-sector conference in 2019.

It brought together arborists, academics, activists, ecologists, planners, project managers and politicians from Sydney and beyond to discuss the benefits and roadblocks to scaling up urban forest planning and implementation in the face of climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss, and a fast-growing city.

WHEN: 24 May 2019, 9am – 5pm

WHERE: Gumbramorra Hall, Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville NSW

Dozens of conference attendees spill out on to the grass by Gumbramorra Hall
School children on stage hold tree and bird drawings
two posters on wall depict conference sketch notes
Illustrations of faces of speakers at the conference

Speakers

Assoc. Prof. Marco Amati, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
Jean Brennan, Urban Ecology Manager, Inner West Council
David Callow
, Team Leader – Urban Forest & Ecology, City of Melbourne Council
Charles Casuscelli, Chief Executive Officer, Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils
Graham Chalcroft, Public Artist, Designer and Director, Vertebrae
Assoc. Prof. Peter Davies, MQ Centre for Smart Green Cities, Macquarie University
John Douglas, Head of Arboriculture, Ryde TAFE
Judy Finlason, Wolli Creek Preservation Society
GUST – Growing Urban Shade Trees
Gwilym Griffiths
, Urban Forest Manager, Inner West Council
Jemilah Hallinan, Outreach Director, Environmental Defenders Office NSW
Laura Hamilton-O’Hara,
Chief Executive Officer, Living Future Institute Australia
Margaret Hogg, Founding Member and Chairperson, Saving Sydney’s Trees Inc.
Dr. Adrienne Keane, 
Lecturer – Urban and Regional Planning, The University of Sydney
Prof. Michelle Leishman, Chief Investigator for the “Which Plant Where” Project, Macquarie University
Dr. Abby Mellick Lopes,
Researcher – “Cooling the Commons”, Western Sydney University
Jess Miller, 202020Vision
Jennifer Newman, Academic, University of Technology Sydney
Warren Roberts,
Founder, Living Legacy Forest
The Hon. Penny Sharpe, MLC NSW
David Shoebridge, MLC NSW
Michael Sullings
, Tree Management Officer, City of Sydney Council
Karen Sweeney, Urban Forest Manager, City of Sydney
Dr. Caragh Threlfall
, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, University of Melbourne
Dr. Fraser Torpy, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney

The Rethinking the Urban Forest Conference 2019 was developed by Addison Road Community Centre in conjunction with event partners Inner West Council, 202020 Vision, Macquarie University, ArborSafe and Andreasens Green.

 Addi Road Urban Habitat Tree