>

Amenity Conference

Download the Conference 2022 leaflet

Where is Loughborough University?

fmovies
google map iframe

Detailed campus map

The 55th National Amenity Arboriculture Conference – What is a Tree?
The 55th National Amenity Arboriculture Conference – What is a Tree?

Now available
with over 17 hours of talks
On-Demand


The What is a Tree? conference welcomed back delegates to the first in-person Amenity Conference since 2019.

What is a tree? Conference: On-Demand Access On-Demand access to the must-see event for anyone who works with trees is here. If you missed this years' landmark Arboricultural Association conference, 'What is a tree?' You can now catch up on over 17 hours of talks featuring 17 expert speakers from around the globe.

Get your On-Demand access here

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.

Monday 5 September

Time

Speaker/Activity

08:00–08:30

Registration

08:30–08:40

Welcome

Michelle Ryan (Session Chair) introduction

08:40–09:10

TED GREEN

The Tree Ecologist

09:10–09:40

STEFANIA GASPERINI

Veteran trees: From technical to ethical arboriculture

09:40–10:10

NEVILLE FAY

Rethinking the tree from the ground up – a philosophical approach

10:10–10:40

GEOFF MONCK

The importance of the microbiome to tree resilience to pests, pathogens and environmental stresses and the key role its deterioration plays in tree decline

10:40–11:00

Questions

11:00–11:40
Break
11:40–11:45

Welcome

Sharon Durdant-Hollamby (Session Chair) introduction

11:45–11:55

Speed Briefing

Speaker TBC
11:55–12:25

LORIEN NESBITT

Holistic environmental justice for equitable urban forestry

12:25–12:55

JESSICA QUINTON

Wealthy, educated and… non-millennial? Inequitable patterns of proximity to urban vegetation in 31 Canadian cities

12:55–13:25

NANAMHLA GWEDLA

The legacy of colonial and apartheid eras on the distribution, composition and representation of street trees in South Africa

13:25–13:45

Questions

13:45–15:00
Lunch
15:00–15:45

Tree ecology

with Ted Green, Jill Butler, Neville Fay, Kevin Frediani, Geoff Monck and Lynne Boddy

15:45–16:15
Break
16:15–17:15

Workshops

Panel discussion, further in-depth Q&A with the tree ecology panel

Writing a tree strategy
with Rob Northrop and Howell Davies
(Monday & Wednesday only)

The Major Oak Gallery Tour
with Reg Harris

Tree planting: More than just numbers
with Keith Sacre and Kenton Rogers

Research project: Noise in decision making
with Jennifer Murray

17:15
CLOSE

Tuesday 6 September

Time

Speaker/Activity

08:00–08:30

Registration

08:30–08:40

Welcome

Cecil Konijnendijk (Session Chair) introduction

08:40–09:10

JOHN GATHRIGHT

Discovering the true value of trees: Creating social heroes and better businesses

09:10–09:40

KEVIN FREDIANI

Towards an innovative pedagogy of Tree Ecology

09:40–10:10

NAOMI ZÜRCHER

Grow a Tree, Grow a Society: lessons from the forest

10:10–10:40

MARK ROBERTS

Outrage management: the art of de-catastrophising

10:40–11:00

Questions

11:00–11:40
Break
11:40–11:45

Welcome

Chair 4 introduction

11:45–11:55

Speed Briefing

Speaker TBC
11:55–12:25

MARK BAYS

Oklahoma City’s Survivor Tree

12:25–12:55

PAUL MANDIBONDIBO

The role of trees in belief, culture and tradition in Biak, Papua

12:55–13:25

JILL BUTLER

What is a tree? A tree is an historical document

13:25–13:45

Questions

13:45–15:00
Lunch
15:00–15:45

Tree protection around the world

including Paul Mandibondibo, Kamil Witkos-Gnach, Cathy Watson, Mark Roberts, John Gathright, Emma Gilmartin and Edgar Ojeda Sotelo

15:45–16:15
Break
16:15–17:15

Workshops

Panel discussion, further in-depth Q&A with the tree protection around the world panel

Tree morphology walking tour
with Stefania Gasperini and Giovanni Morelli
(Tuesday only)

The Major Oak Gallery Tour
with Reg Harris

Tree planting: More than just numbers
with Keith Sacre and Kenton Rogers

Research project: Noise in decision making
with Jennifer Murray

17:15
CLOSE

Wednesday 7 September

Time

Speaker/Activity

08:00–08:30

Registration

08:30–08:40

Welcome

Emma Gilmartin (Session Chair) introduction

08:40–09:10

LYNNE BODDY

A tree is never just a tree

09:10–09:40

SURESH RAMANAN

Indian farmer’s perception of trees

09:40–10:10

FRANCESCO FERRINI

How do trees respond to environmental stress? Biochemical and physiological aspects of urban trees tolerance to climate extremes

10:10–10:40

KAMIL WITKOS-GNACH

Trees of Bialowieza Forest - place where they can grow and die freely?

10:40–11:00

Questions

11:00–11:40
Break
11:40–11:45

Welcome

John Parker (Session Chair) introduction

11:45–11:55

Speed Briefing

Speaker TBC
11:55–12:25

HOWELL DAVIES

The development of the urban Ngahere Strategy for Auckland, New Zealand

12:25–12:55

TAHIA DEVISSCHER

Urban Forests in Latin America: Opportunities and Challenges

12:55–13:25

ROB NORTHROP

What is a tree? A tale of three cities

13:25–13:45

Questions

13:45–15:00
Lunch
15:00–15:45

Green inequity

with Nanamhla Gwedla and Lorien Nesbitt

15:45–16:15
Break
16:15–17:15

Workshops

Panel discussion, further in-depth Q&A with the green equity panel

Writing a tree strategy
with Rob Northrop and Howell Davies
Monday & Wednesday only)

The Major Oak Gallery Tour
with Reg Harris

Tree planting: More than just numbers
with Keith Sacre and Kenton Rogers

Research project: Noise in decision making
with Jennifer Murray

17:15
CLOSE

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