Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
This open conversation explores how depaving and green infrastructure, including miniforests, can address stormwater runoff, flooding, and the heat island effect. It invites a fresh perspective on urban spaces dominated by asphalt and concrete, with insights from the transformation of a 6,400 sqft parking lot into a miniforest in Worcester, MA. This session encourages us to recognize the importance of permeable surfaces and their role in supporting the web of life.
Moderated by Alexandra Ionescu, Director of Regenerative Projects at Bio4Climate
Featuring:
Caseylee Bastien, RLA, CPSI, Landscape Architect/ Ecologist, Senior Associate, BSC Group Inc.
Leigh Meunier, Organizer, Green & Open Somerville
Max Rome, PhD, Senior Stormwater Program Manager, Charles River Watershed Association
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Across the Northeast, communities face ecological disruption—rising temperatures, shrinking habitats, degraded soils, and stormwater runoff. But there’s growing momentum: more people are planting miniforests using the Miyawaki Method—or adapting it—to restore life to cities, schoolyards, parks, and vacant lots.
Featuring more than a dozen speakers across two virtual half-days and an in-person bus tour, the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit brought together practitioners, researchers, and leaders from diverse fields—including landscape architects, scientists, and community organizers—to unpack the method from root to canopy.
Miniforests are more than trees—they amplify a web of relationships. Learn more at: miniforests.bio4climate.org
Celebrate the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit with our official shirt and tote bag!
Get yours here:
bonfire.com/2025-northeast-miniforest-summit-shirts
bonfire.com/2025-northeast-miniforest-summit-bags
This open conversation explores how depaving and green infrastructure, including miniforests, can address stormwater runoff, flooding, and the heat island effect. It invites a fresh perspective on urban spaces dominated by asphalt and concrete, with insights from the transformation of a 6,400 sqft parking lot into a miniforest in Worcester, MA. This session encourages us to recognize the importance of permeable surfaces and their role in supporting the web of life.
Moderated by Alexandra Ionescu, Director of Regenerative Projects at Bio4Climate
Featuring:
Caseylee Bastien, RLA, CPSI, Landscape Architect/ Ecologist, Senior Associate, BSC Group Inc.
Leigh Meunier, Organizer, Green & Open Somerville
Max Rome, PhD, Senior Stormwater Program Manager, Charles River Watershed Association
---
Across the Northeast, communities face ecological disruption—rising temperatures, shrinking habitats, degraded soils, and stormwater runoff. But there’s growing momentum: more people are planting miniforests using the Miyawaki Method—or adapting it—to restore life to cities, schoolyards, parks, and vacant lots.
Featuring more than a dozen speakers across two virtual half-days and an in-person bus tour, the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit brought together practitioners, researchers, and leaders from diverse fields—including landscape architects, scientists, and community organizers—to unpack the method from root to canopy.
Miniforests are more than trees—they amplify a web of relationships. Learn more at: miniforests.bio4climate.org
Celebrate the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit with our official shirt and tote bag!
Get yours here:
bonfire.com/2025-northeast-miniforest-summit-shirts
bonfire.com/2025-northeast-miniforest-summit-bags
