LEC Presents Canopy Cities: The Importance of Trees and Forests in Our Urban Future

Tim Beatley is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. Beatley directs the Biophilic Cities Project at UVA (http://biophiliccities.org/) and co-founded University of Virginia's Center for Design and Health, within the School of Architecture. He is currently in the process of establishing a new center at UVA–the Center for Forest Urbanism–with seed funding from the Jefferson Trust.

WashU undergraduates are invited to spend the morning learning from Tim Beatley. Over breakfast we will have a discussion of the emerging importance of urban trees and forests in addressing the climate, energy and human health challenges faced by cities today. Beatley will survey what cities are doing to protect existing trees and canopy as well as to grow new forests. From planting tiny-forests in public spaces, and on balconies and rooftops, to rethinking street trees, to re-growing old-growth forests in and around cities, Beatley will present the optimistic future vision of forest urbanism. Presentation and discussion will be followed by a walk around the Danforth campus to discuss possible places to create a new mini-forest, with the goal of establishing the plantings later in the fall.

This event is free and open to all WashU undergraduates.