Urban forestry is a young profession compared to allied professions that also create and manage urban greenspace. Some consequences of this immaturity are low recruitment into urban forestry career paths and university programs, gaps in professional support structure, inconsistent collaboration with related professionals (e.g., city planners and engineers), and ultimately lack of consideration for trees during development and management of the urban ecosystem. Urban Forestry 2020 is a multi-university collaborative project established to critically assess these issues and propose research-based strategies to strengthen the urban forestry profession. A steering committee consisting of leaders from all branches of urban forestry as well as from allied professional organizations (e.g., the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Planning Association) provides guidance and networking assistance.

Urban Forestry 2020 has two complementary thrusts: research examining the relationship between professional support mechanisms and recruitment, education, and employment of urban foresters in the United States and networking exploring how urban foresters, broadly defined, network and where gaps exist. Urban forestry is increasingly important as society becomes ever-more urban and technologically dependent. However, there is no guarantee that professional urban foresters will remain to manage our urban trees unless action is taken to make the profession inherently sustainable. We will present preliminary research findings including how urban forestry professional systems compare to allied professions, how students perceive urban forestry and how employers evaluate the qualifications of urban foresters as well as details of the exploratory networking program and how individuals can participate.