Day 1 (Nov. 6): Preparing for Climate Change

This session is open to a broad audience that is interested in learning more about climate change impacts and adaptation in Austin's community forests and natural areas. This session will:

• Provide information on the current and anticipated effects of climate change on the Austin metro and its urban forests and natural areas
• Describe resources and tools that can be used to integrate climate change into urban forest and natural areas management
• Outline adaptation concepts and strategies
• Identify actions that enhance the ability of urban forests and other ecosystems in the Austin region to adapt to changing conditions
• Highlight real-world examples of adaptation projects, and engage participants in a variety of interactive activities to identify climate change issues and potential adaptation actions.

Day 2 (November 7): Adaptation Planning and Practices

Adaptation Planning and Practices is an active, hands-on training, to assist urban forest and natural areas managers in incorporating climate change considerations and identifying actions for adaptation into their own real-world forest management projects. This training is available for a limited number of participants who have a specific project in mind. Participants are highly encouraged to attend Day 1 as a foundation for this more advanced training. Through this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe regional and local effects of climate change on urban forests and ecosystems
• Understand adaptation concepts and principles in the context of sustainable urban forest management
• Use Forest Adaptation Resources in real-world management projects to:
  • Identify challenges and opportunities for management
  • Develop actionable steps to adapt forests to changing conditions
  • Create their own climate-informed forest management project

We ask that participants develop a project idea and gain familiarity with key resources prior to the training, which helps make the best use of time at the in-person training. Examples of projects that may be a good fit:

• Developing or updating a planting list for street, park, or residential trees
• Updating or developing a master plan or other planning effort for a municipality, park, or natural area
• Selecting species for tree sales or nursery production
• A restoration project in a natural area
• Landscaping or green infrastructure projects

Examples of other projects can be found here.