Events

In Australia, policies are prioritising increases in urban forest coverage and diversity as a climate change adaptation response. However, the relationship between people’s feelings about urban trees and public policy is under-examined.

Responding to this gap in research, this talk considers the emotional geographies of urban forests in the Australian city of Melbourne – drawing on a unique dataset from The City of Melbourne’s email-a-tree initiative to identify how concern and connection for urban trees is expressed.

Examining emails sent to trees using a mixed-methods approach, the team uncovered data that subverts anthropocentric assumptions of trees – suggesting new ways of understanding people’s commitments to nature, and possibilities for securing better futures for urban forests.

The 50 Words project (https://50words.online/languages) aims to provide 50 words from every First Nations language in Australia on an interactive map, with all words and associated recordings provided by a community member for this purpose.

With 100 languages already represented on the map, and more in the works, this is a unique, publicly available resource which showcases First Nations languages and their diversity across the continent.

In this talk Professor Nordlinger will present the project and its objectives and discuss some of the collaborative, community-driven aspects of its design.

This is a hybrid meeting please email onemda-info@unimelb.edu.au to receive zoom details.