Conference Workshop Sessions

As we embrace a new technological era, this workshop is an urgent call to explore how generative AI is more than simply an innovation: it is a necessity, transforming the very core of businesses, including arboriculture. In a world where change accelerates daily, staying ahead is challenging, but recognising and embracing the revolutionary power of generative AI is critical. As modern arboriculture evolves, so should our tools and techniques. This workshop provides a preliminary overview of how generative AI tools such as ChatGPT might help redefine how we operate.

Charles and Liz will deliver a presentation highlighting some current topics, and delegates will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion session.

Workshop to provide an update on the revision of BS 5837. A presentation will outline the process with an insight in to feedback and areas of revision. Delegates will have the opportunity to participate in a discussion session to contribute to the revision process.

If you are considering applying to become a Registered Consultant with the Arboricultural Association, or if you would just like to find out more about how the Scheme works and why it is so important to our sector, then join the Association’s Senior Technical Officers Emma Gilmartin and Simon Richmond and Dr Martin Dobson for an in-depth discussion.

A chance to discuss trees and Ted’s inimitable views on their care and protection.

For many humans, urban forests are nature close to home. For more-than-human beings, urban forests are home. At the same time, engagement with and access to urban forests and their countless benefits are unequal. Quantitative data show how human age, ethnicity, health, and deprivation influence levels of engagement with and time spent in nature. What we don’t know, however, is how intersecting identities impact perceived access to urban forests. Beyond availability and attractiveness, cultivating a sense of belonging seems to play a role in mitigating this unequal access. But what does it mean to belong in an urban forest place? Who belongs?

Arboriculturists are key players in facilitating contact between humans and trees in urban environments. Join this workshop on urban forest storytelling to explore your own understanding of urban forests, how our human and more-than-human stories overlap, and how these stories of lived experiences can help us work towards making urban forests more inclusive for all. The workshop concludes with a moment of story sharing, comparing experiences and taking note of emerging themes and applicable tools.

This workshop is part of ongoing PhD research by Lotte Dijkstra at Newcastle University, exploring the relation between senses of belonging and equitable access to urban forests. The resulting insights and methodology aim to contribute to the intersection of urban forestry, socio-environmental justice and multispecies community engagement and to support fair, healthy and resilient urban forest planning, design and management.