Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Field experience Lincoln Park Zoo’s level III accredited arboretum, home to 7,000+ individual woody plants. This field experience will highlight some of the beautiful legacy trees on site, including aging bur oaks, and the tree care needed to maintain a canopy representing over 500 taxa. Established in 1868, Lincoln Park Zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature and providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of Chicago. Learn how collaborations with other local institutions have helped move forward our tree program and the advances we have made in the last 14 years since the horticulture department at the zoo was established. Come and experience our 49-acre arboretum, an urban oasis for wildlife, for all.

Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Discover the remarkable transformation of Big Marsh Park, a 278-acre haven nestled in Chicago's Calumet Area Reserve. Once a dumping ground for industrial waste, this collaborative effort between the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District in the early 2000s has revitalized the area into a vibrant eco-recreation park. Join guided bike and walking field experiences to witness the park's ecological restoration, engage in tree-planting activities, and partake in guided nature play sessions. Explore the Ford Calumet Environmental Center to learn about the park's significance and ongoing conservation efforts. Experience the beauty and resilience of nature in this urban oasis.

Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Take a journey through Chicago's green history highlighting Frederick Law Olmsted's enduring impact on urban landscapes. This tour will feature the Village of Riverside, designed by Olmsted and his partner Calvert Veaux, notably the “first planned suburb” in the United States and a designated National Landmark. This unique town, located just southwest of Chicago, was intentionally designed to along the Des Plaines River, which influenced its curvilinear streets, and features green space throughout. Learn from the Riverside Village Forester about inspiring projects in the community including white oak legacy tree planting program and volunteer projects. Come to learn from historians perspective about Olmsted’s influence on urban forestry today.

Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Embark on a captivating journey through Chicago’s urban forestry legacy with our exclusive bus field experience. Delve into the visionary work of Jens Jensen, the pioneering landscape architect who championed green spaces amidst rapid urbanization in the early 20th century. Discover Jensen’s commitment to urban conservation efforts as we explore the iconic sites of Humboldt Park and Garfield Park Conservatory on Chicago’s west side and learn how Jensen’s influence still impacts communities today.

Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Explore innovative solutions in our urban environment for reducing flooding by increasing natural climate solutions. Several concerned organizations are implementing Green Infrastructure practices to make Chicago more resilient to climate change. Join some of the practitioners implementing this work on a bus field experience exploring green schoolyards, green buildings, tree plantings, and how the city is thinking through maintenance challenges. We’ll talk about community engagement, challenges, and hopes for the Green Infrastructure movement.

Motor Coach Field Experience

Capacity: 50

Discover Chicago's transformative green spaces on our bus field experience, showcasing the power of community activism and environmental justice. Explore Ping Tom Park in Chinatown, a vibrant urban oasis born from collaboration and sustainable design. Then, journey to La Villita Park in Little Village, once a polluted brownfield transformed into a symbol of empowerment and resilience. Finally, visit the Chicago Park District Headquarters in Brighton Park, where modern aesthetics meet a commitment to sustainability. Join us as we celebrate equitable greenspace and combat urban heat in our city.

Bicycle Field Experience

Capacity: 45

Explore the natural beauty of Chicago while learning about conservation efforts and community initiatives such as Roots & Routes. From the historic American elms of Grant Park to the redevelopment of Northerly Island, this bike field experience combines discussions on conservation and community. Experience firsthand the commitment to creating and sustaining the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, the longest stretch of lakefront natural area in the Chicago Park District system with multiple partners and community groups. Participants will be biking about 10 miles, please remember to dress appropriately for the weather.

Walking Field Experience

Capacity: 80

Step into the heart of Chicago’s vibrant urban landscape with our Chicago Loop Green Infrastructure walking field experience. Explore and learn about different green infrastructure installations in downtown Chicago including the historic Old Post Office rooftop, a field experience from the City of Chicago’s Forestry Department, all while soaking in the city’s rich history and architectural marvels. The field experience group will also have time to visit the Climate Action Museum, a dynamic, educational, and inspiring both short- and long-term decisions that mitigate our Climate Emergency. Don’t miss this immersive journey through Chicago’s dynamic past, present and future!

Indoor Field Experience

Capacity: 50 per session

(2 sessions offered, each approximately 1 hour)

This one-hour Indoor Forest Bathing experience will provide a taste of the healing and wellness benefits of guided nature and forest therapy. The program will start with a brief presentation on the history and practice of forest bathing. We will then move into guided, sensory invitations with beings from our natural world. The program will close with the opportunity for connection and sharing of stories of what you noticed during your experience. This session will be led by Jane M. Wandless, ANFT Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide.

Indoor Field Experience

Capacity: No Limit

If your idea of a field excursion includes a bit less “field”, stop by to find out what happens when the i-Tree team takes it offline and starts getting real. We’ll take advantage of being together live and in person for some hands-on demos and discussions about the current and future direction of i-Tree.

• See live demos of all your favorite i-Tree tools.
• Connect with members of the i-Tree Development, Science, and Support teams.
• Make your own diameter tape and see how MyTree can be used for education and outreach.
• Never been on an i-Tree Eco plot? Now’s your chance.
• Learn more about the i-Tree API (Application Programming Interface).
• Explore the future of i-Tree with Cool Air, the urban heat island modeler.
• Plus, we want to hear your stories: how are you using tree benefit results in your world, what are your biggest challenges, and where can i-Tree help you go further?

This is a flexible session with optional outdoor demos just outside the conference building. Join us to explore how to get the most out of these tools and see how i-Tree can be used to deliver tree benefits in the real world.

Indoor Field Experience

Capacity: No Limit

This workshop aims to share and apply findings, best practices and tools from new capacity-building programs to strengthen community involvement in green infrastructure on private & public land. It includes an introductory presentation on the Coolkit tools and present evaluation results from Coolkit programs underway in BC (Canada). The workshop is designed for professionals (including municipal staff, consultants & NGO staff) and for community leaders looking to build practical skills and learn novel, replicable techniques.

The workshop provides lessons and skills drawn from two unique programs catalyzing neighbourhood-level engagement on climate resilience by motivating collective tree-planting & climate solutions:

• the 3-year Oak Bay Coolkit program on Vancouver Island, in partnership with the District of Oak Bay & community groups
• a ‘training-trainers’ approach to engaging communities in urban forestry & climate action, supported through for-credit programs such as a micro-certificate in Climate Action & Community Engagement (CACE), and/or a Masters of Urban Forestry Leadership degree program (MUFL).

Participants will apply powerful visioning techniques & co-develop a local community engagement plan, through a hands-on workshop in table groups, using 1) local Google Streetview 11x17 colour printouts, 2) Climate Action Plan template from coolkit, and 3) flipcharts for group reporting (laptop and items 1 and 2 supplied by presenter). The workshop typically includes a short climate walk (CIMA Walk) nearby to identify neighbourhood vulnerabilities and assets affected by climate change and consider potential changes to implement feasible climate adaptation and mitigation solutions. We will wrap up the workshop by working with participants to start on developing an outline climate engagement plan – a plan to jointly implement a small climate project within their neighbourhood or area of interest, by walking them through steps from the Coolkit that need to be considered.