Amenity Conference

Now available
with over 17 hours of talks
On-Demand

A tree can represent something different to all of us. Join the UK’s biggest arboriculture conference and experience a special 3-day event redefining what a tree can represent, as an ecosystem itself and as part of the wider ecosystem.

We considered the concept of tree ecology, with the tree both as part of a wider ecosystem and as an ecosystem in its own right. For too long, urban and amenity trees were often viewed as existing in isolation – each an individual tree, perceived and managed as an individual unit. Over time we have come to appreciate that this is not the case.

Trees are not only key elements of wider ecosystems, but can constitute ecosystems in their own right. Once, when asked the question what is a tree?, we might have replied with a dictionary definition – a tall plant with a wooden trunk and branches, or a woody perennial plant with an elongate main stem. We might have quoted Justice Cranston and responded that a tree is anything that would ordinarily be regarded as a tree. A tree is an assemblage of cells, arranged as roots, stem, fruit. We know that it can be far more complicated than this, and that a simple answer is not easily given. We must consider tree ecology. What impact does our increasing understanding of how trees function have on our understanding of what a tree actually is? To what extent must fungi be considered part of a tree when we cannot always tell where the roots end and the mycorrhiza begin? What about the soil and the microbes? The endophytes and epiphytes? What about all of the flora, fauna and funga which coexist with trees?

Get your On-Demand access here

Timetable

Workshops

Immediately after lunch each day there will be a panel session in the main auditorium. The themes will be tree ecology (Monday), international tree protection (Tuesday) and green inequity (Wednesday). These sessions will be around 45 minutes long. There will then be a refreshment break, after which delegates will have a choice of workshops to join – the full selection is listed below, but each day one of the options available will be to return to the auditorium for an in-depth discussion session with the panel.

Please note that speakers, times and content may change due to unforeseen circumstances.