Welcome, Master of Urban Forestry Leaders and First Cohort!
Your journey through UFOR 521: Advances in Arboriculture, begins here.
For the next 13 weeks, we will be covering the multiple aspects of theoretical and practical arboriculture that make up the discipline as we know it today. We will share resources that cover perspectives on the future of arboriculture as well. Of course, you, are a part of that future!
Understanding Arboriculture to Elevate the Profession
The goal of this course is to understand why humans need to care for trees in the urban environment, what kinds of situations require interventions, what arboricultural practices can help us promote sustainable urban forests and how do these practices relate to urban forest strategic planning and operations management. Naturally, to achieve this, we need to understand how trees function in the urban environment, what they need to grow and thrive as well as what constraints humans impose on tree development. A balanced perspective of these concepts, can help professionals make better decisions about trees in our cities.
When we grasp the basic concepts of a discipline and the proverbial "rules of the game", we are better equipped to handle its inherent challenges head on.
Arboriculture is a field that focuses on the care of trees. Disciplines centered around living organisms are dynamic and ever-changing, so it's important to keep up to date and stay connected. With a rigorous approach, an open mind and a curious spirit, we can enrich our understanding even further and challenge conventional ideas. In this course, we will give you access to ideas, research, publications and points of view from specialists in arboriculture from all over the world.
Flipping the Paradigm
From Tree Maintenance to Maintaining Trees on the Urban Landscape
From public works yards, to roadways, to utility corridors to even backyards, we often hear about tree maintenance contracts, maintenance programs and maintenance workers. In urban forestry, tree care is so much more than clearing infrastructure, cleaning up after storms, routine pruning and removals. Nevertheless, these tasks are as necessary as they are labour and resource intensive. They get a lot of attention. Maybe it's time for a different approach, one centered on preventing issues.
Urban forestry is about maximizing the benefits that trees provide for our environment and urban communities, all under a manageable framework of reducing risks and optimizing costs. A vision for arboriculture that focuses on healthy trees, viable tree planting sites, and reconciling tree and human development, go beyond "tree maintenance" to responsibly maintaining trees on the urban landscape.
Every week, we will delve into topics that reinforce these themes as well as the objectives of this course.
Setting Up the Work Plan
To be successful in the course, you will need to consult and get familiar with the course outline (syllabus) and course requirements.
Then, head to the homepage of the UFOR 521 on Canvas, to check out the latest news and announcements as well as to follow each week's chapters.
Before attending our first seminar on Thursday September September 9th at 14:30 (2:30pm) Pacific Time, kindly fill out this survey.Links to an external site. This will help me calibrate the course in relation to your interests and needs.
Get acquainted with each week's readings. The concepts, learning objectives and main ideas of the course will be outlined in each chapter as we go, for every lecture.
Lectures will be recorded and linked on to the Canvas site as well. This will be your one stop shop for all content in this course.
Got questions? Feel free to check in with me, your course instructor, by email if you're not finding what you need on Canvas. You can also make an appointment with me should you need to chat about your progression through UFOR521.
Keep in mind that new chapters will be unlocked every week as we move forward in the course. You won't have access to everything, all at once. That would be overwhelming.
As for readings, each chapter will be structured with 3 levels of references:
1 - Mandatory assigned readings:
These readings will give you the concepts and terminology needed to assimilate the course material and complete certain assignments.
2- Optional background readings:
These readings provide background information, basic fundamentals and vocabulary for those who may need to get up to speed on specific topics.
3- Optional readings, going further:
For those who may want to dive deeper into a specific subject, additional references are included to provide more information and enhance one's point of view. This feature of the course is designed to connect you to new ideas, fresh perspectives and more in-depth details on contemporary arboricultural research and practice.
Also keep in mind that this is as new for me as it is for you :) More details on course discussion and chances to interact will be rolled out, once I get the hang of things.
In the meantime, I wish you the very best in this course. I sincerely hope you find the information useful in your careers and that this learning opportunity will enrich your experience in urban forestry.