Centering Community Engagement in Urban Forestry Leadership

Thanks to Bartlett Tree Experts – our Exclusive Learning Series Partner!

Community engagement is often treated as a supporting activity—but what if it were recognized as a core leadership function?

In this dynamic Learning Series session, we will explore how to elevate engagement from a checklist of outreach tasks to a leadership-centered framework that informs strategic planning, risk assessment, and municipal operations. Drawing on real-world experience, this session demonstrates how meaningful community engagement strengthens trust, advances equity, and reduces operational and political risk.

Grounded in the UCFS Accreditation Standards, this session highlights best practices for embedding engagement into policy, building trust through transparent structures, and communicating with cultural awareness. Real-life case studies illustrate how insufficient engagement can create operational, reputational, political, and equity risks—and how those challenges can be transformed through deeper collaboration and shared decision-making. You’ll leave with a practical framework for aligning engagement approaches with project risk levels.

Designed for municipal foresters, nonprofit programs, and community leaders, Centering Community Engagement in Urban Forestry Leadership emphasizes that community engagement is not an “extra” skill—it’s a foundational leadership responsibility essential for advancing equity, mitigating risk, and ensuring long-term program success.

Join us to transform the way you lead—you’ll gain the tools, strategies, and inspiration to make community engagement a driving force in your urban forestry programs.

At the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Apply a leadership-centered framework to integrate community engagement into strategic planning, risk assessment, and municipal operations.
2. Evaluate how different levels of engagement (inform, consult, involve, collaborate, empower) align with project risk and community impact.
3. Incorporate engagement strategies that build trust, advance equity, and reduce operational and political risk.

This webinar is approved for one ISA CEU.

This webinar supports your knowledge and learning for:

UCFS Accreditation Standard: Standard 4, Community Engagement

ISA Certified Urban Forest Professional (CUFP): Domain 3, Communication and Public Awareness

Register here!