About

A collaborative research project bridging the gaps in urban forestry between site-level actions and strategic-level urban sustainability goals.

Research (all publications are open access!)

We asked: How do direct, site-level urban forest management actions contribute to strategic-level urban sustainability goals?

Research framework

Why?

1) Bassett, C.G., Day, S.D., Konijnendijk, C.C., Chan, K.M.A., Roman, L.A., 2025. From tyranny to hope: Harnessing the power of small decisions to achieve urban sustainability goals. Environmental Science & Policy 170, 104125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104125

What?

2) Bassett, C.G., Day, S.D., Konijnendijk, C.C., Roman, L.A., Yee, C.K., Chan, K.M.A., 2025. The best laid plans: How do adopted city sustainability goals influence site-level action in urban forestry? Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02247-0

How?

3) Bassett, C. G., S. D. Day, C. C. Konijnendijk, L. A. Roman, and V. Hemming. 2024. Aligning urban forest management actions with urban sustainability goals: A multi-city expert elicitation. Ecosphere 15:e70120. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70120

…The Synthesis (or, now what?)

Bassett, C.G., Day, S.D., Konijnendijk, C.C., Roman, L.A., 2025. Small decisions as social and ecological leverage points for cities to meet sustainability goals: A synthesis for urban forestry research and practice. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 113, 129114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2025.129114

Outreach materials

1 pg Study Recap Do you need different street tree management actions for different sustainability goals?

Graphical abstract: How do adopted city sustainability goals influence site-level action in urban forestry?

Team

This project was led by a team based at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry.

Research Team:

Dr. Susan D. Day (PI), Urban Forest Ecosystems Lab, UBC Forestry
Dr. Cecil C. Konijnendijk (Co-PI), Nature-Based Solutions Institute
Dr. Lara A. Roman, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station
Dr. Kai M. A. Chan, CHANS LAB, UBC Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability
Corinne (Corey) G. Bassett, PhD Student & Project Leader
Chanel Yee, Research Assistant
Angel Bao, Research Assistant

Many thanks to the contributions and advising by practitioner advisory committee members Dana Karcher, Rachel Holmes, Matt Spitsen, and Jordan Endahl.

Funding

This project was funded in part by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada.