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Biodiversity

THUR-B01: Urban Biodiversity in Practice: Three Pathways for Education, Stewardship, and Policy

Thursday, September 17, 2026
10:45 AM - 12:00 PM PT
1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Communities often value biodiversity when they can see, care for, and participate in it. This session presents three practical pathways, institutional partnerships, community stewardship, and policy tools. Attendees will learn how participatory processes build ecological literacy, local capacity, and long-term advocacy.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Compare three approaches to advancing urban biodiversity, institutional partnerships, community-based stewardship, and policy tools, and evaluate how each supports environmental justice in different neighborhood contexts.
  • Apply participatory design and engagement methods that lower barriers to involvement and enable people with varied backgrounds, skill levels, and access to civic resources to participate in biodiversity work.
  • Integrate community science (e.g., iNaturalist) and hands-on learning tools into projects to reposition biodiversity monitoring as a shared, accessible practice rather than an expert-driven activity.
  • Align local biodiversity initiatives, advocacy, funding mechanisms, and policy tools (e.g., CNPS Landscapes for Change, Calscape, certification programs) to extend impact in communities that have historically received less ecological investment.