TNOC Festival 2024: Full Schedule

SET YOUR TIME ZONE TO BERLIN (CET) TO SEE THE CORRECT TIMES!!

Welcome to the Nature of Cities Festival 2024! A gathering to get inspired, to learn, to present, collaborate, or to meet hundreds of new best friends and urban nature co-conspirators. The Berlin segment is an all-inclusive multi-day experience featuring field-trips, in person talks, workshops, art interventions, a film festival, Farm-to-Table dinners, various opportunities for socializing, and much more. All of it takes place at the Atelier Gardens venue, and various other locations around Berlin.

If you are not registered yet, you can register using a credit card or coupon code below. To use a different payment method (ApplePay, GiroPay, etc...) visit the TNOC FESTIVAL WEBSITE for other options.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

After registering, scroll down to see sessions.
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VENUE ADDRESS:
Oberlandstraße 26-35, 12099 Berlin

11:00 EDT

Sacred Nature: Forest therapy as an interfaith enrichment experience

Nature is sacred to all faiths and traditions. Join me as I guide Christian Jewish and Muslim participants in a forest therapy ( bathing) experience. I am a certified forest therapy guide, horticultural therapist, and spiritual director

Virtual Speakers

Edward W Wilson

owner, Trey Gardens, LLC

In a previous life, I was a dentist in New York City for 37 years . Now I am a certified landscape designer, horticultural therapist, and forest therapy guide, working to deepen our connection to Nature for the purpose of improving health and well-being across all domains-physically... Read More →

Leila Quinlan

Susan Serafini

Mary Ann Young

Moain Abu Dabrh

Louise Driscoll Amy Slater

Carol Degustis

John Newman

Sally Ann Pantin

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:00 - 12:00 EDT
Virtual

Virtual field-trip session

City Berlin, Jacksonville Fla. New Hope, Pa
Country Germany, USA, United States
Language English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
Affiliation Trey Gardens
Room Number 10

17:00 EDT

Wild Mile Virtual Field Trip

Join Elsa Anderson and Phil Nicodemus for a walk and kayak along Chicago's Wild Mile, a series of floating islands on the Chicago River that reconnect nature and bring people to the river at the heart of our city.

Virtual Speakers

Elsa Anderson

Assistant Professor of Instruction, Northwestern University

I am an urban ecologist with a passion for helping connect people and nature for environmental wellbeing in cities. I am currently based in Chicago, USA, near where I grew up. I lived in Berlin for awhile doing research on local forests impacted by the Berlin Wall and am planning... Read More →

Phil Nicodemus

Wednesday April 17, 2024 17:00 - 18:00 EDT
Virtual

Virtual field-trip session

City Chicago
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation Northwestern University
Room Number 3

17:00 EDT

Africatown Connections Blueway: Healing Begins by Reclaiming our Heritage & Happiness

Community members in Africatown, Alabama have established community rituals and traditions that are practiced, fortifying the connections between elders and youth of the community. Session participants will learn the steps of community engagement traditions and actively participate in practicing these traditions.

Of primary importance is to recognize and preserve the international historical significance of Africatown in hopes of contributing to racial healing and reckoning as well as celebrating the contribution of this community to our global family.

Virtual Speakers

Liz Smith-Incer

Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program, National Park Service

Anderson Flen

President, Mobile County Training School Alumni Association

Anderson Flen has prided himself as a bridge builder in his personal and professional life. He was born in Magazine Point Alabama (Africatown) and is a 1968 graduate of Mobile County Training School (MCTS). He served in leadership roles in high school: President of the Student Government... Read More →

Wednesday April 17, 2024 17:00 - 18:30 EDT
Virtual

Skills session

City Toronto, Biloxi
Country Canada, USA
Language English
Affiliation University of Toronto, U.S. National Park Service - Rivers, USDA Forest Service
Room Number 9

09:00 EDT

Island Life, Anywhere

Island life is often touted as “the way it should be.” While conjuring idyllic visions, an island is vulnerable to harsh realities of climate, isolation, and limited resources; and inhabitants must be creative and mindful of all other life on it. Participants are invited to draw inspiration from these delicate ecosystems and their communities, so we might scale their wisdom.

Virtual Speakers

Eulani Labay

Experience Designer

I believe people can be engaged to solve their own problems and can work together to solve problems bigger than themselves. In complex and uncertain environments, I find abundance by balancing the gravity of difficult domains with a combination of vision, compassion, storytelling... Read More →

Wednesday April 24, 2024 09:00 - 10:30 EDT
Virtual

Seed session

City Los Angeles, CA
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation eulanilabay.com
Room Number 8

09:00 EDT

Silent Tea Meditation

Tea meditation offers the chance to re-connect with your self, others and All through the medicine of Tea and Silence. Sit with us in person in our private tearooml room to listen to the pulse of the Universe that resonates within you. This tradition, formulated from ancient Chinese rituals of Tea aims to make Tea accessible and universal, including everybody that feels a resonance with the Way of Tea.

Virtual Speakers

GGrippo

There’s a thread that connect all the artistic production that I embark on, there’s a sense of direction that has always guided my work and there’s a way of approaching the materials that always has fascinated and formatted my practice.I have worked throughout many years across... Read More →

Wednesday April 24, 2024 09:00 - 10:30 EDT
Virtual

Skills session

City NYC
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation Independent
Room Number 12

11:00 EDT

Healthy Soils Grow Healthy Trees

Soils in developed environments are changed from natural soils. People usually remove the organic matter and compact the soils. If the soil microbiomes are lost, the trees cannot grow healthy. Testing and economic restoration treatments offer soils the ability to recover and grow better trees. Performing this process is simple and will benefit communities to grow better trees.

Virtual Speakers

Gordon Mann

Wednesday April 24, 2024 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Virtual

Skills session

City Auburn, CA
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation The Institute of Soil Genomics for Healthy Community Forestry
Room Number 6

11:00 EDT

Who takes care of this place? Drawing your system of stewardship

Understanding connections between neighbors, surroundings, and the actions they take to care for the city can support collaboration and transformation. In this seed session, we test a tool for drawing our systems of stewardship that centers positionality, requires no artistic background, and assumes incomplete knowledge. This approach can reveal where we are and where we want to go!

Virtual Speakers

Natalia Piland

Interdisciplinary Scientist, USDA Forest Service

Friday April 26, 2024 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Virtual

Seed session

City Minneapolis
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service
Room Number 10

11:00 EDT

The Organizer's Guide to Architecture Education

Join The Organizer's Guides to Architecture Education (TOGAE) for an interactive workshop on power mapping as a tool for envisioning and enacting change in the built environment and beyond. In this session, we'll introduce key ideas from our upcoming book and guide participants through a collaborative power mapping exercise focused on a selected aspect of the (built) environment. Together, we'll examine current power dynamics, identify leverage points, and explore strategies for transformative organizing at multiple scales.

Through this hands-on experience, participants will gain practical skills in power mapping methodology and a deeper understanding of its potential applications in their own disciplinary contexts. We'll also engage in a broader discussion about the role of organizing in confronting entrenched power structures and re-imagining more equitable futures. Whether you're an architect, planner, researcher, activist, or simply passionate about creating more just and sustainable cities, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to expand your knowledge, connect with like-minded individuals, and contribute to a growing movement for change.

Virtual Speakers

Valérie Lechêne

Friday April 26, 2024 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Virtual

Skills session

City New York City
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation The Architecture Lobby
Room Number 17

08:00 EDT

Nature Experience Areas for independent play in Berlin – "Wild World" at Kienbergpark

The field trip will take place at the location Kienbergpark in the Berlin district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf.

Meeting point: Umweltbildungszentrum (Educational Centre) Kienbergpark, appr. 50 min travel time via train and subway from Tempelhofer Feld. Participants are kindly asked to consider this time in advance to session start at 2 p.m.

Link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ageX1j4CPyUp2Ucd6

Instructions to explain how to get to the field-trip meeting point:

Best access is from the U5 subway station “Kienberg/Garten der Welt”: cross Hellersdorfer Straße and go straight ahead along Gottfried-Funeck-Weg into the park.
Continue via the Wuhlesteg to the terrace by the pond to reach the education centre (approx. 600 m from the train station).

Virtual Speakers

Maria Schoenen

Nature Experience Areas, Stiftung Naturschutz Berlin

How can we provide enough possibilities for children to play and experience in nature? I'am working at the Berlin Nature Conservation Foundation. Here I promote the Berlin Nature Experience Areas, which are sites for children to play. I support Berlin stakeholders in planning, setting... Read More →

Berlin (in person) Speakers

Katja Czerwinski

ESD Education Manager, Grün Berlin

Environment Education in Berlin

Monday June 3, 2024 08:00 - 11:00 EDT
In-Person Berlin

Berlin field-trip session

City Berlin, NYC
Country Germany, USA
Language English, German
Affiliation Grün Berlin, Stiftung Naturschutz Berlin

10:00 EDT

Let's Solve a Mystery! A Play-Based Approach to Environmental Education

You’re invited to come solve a mystery! Join Applied Theater practitioner Ania Upstill for an engaging and mysterious environmental education experience. Based on their Masters thesis project with the Urban Field Station NYC, this session invites attendees to experience a sample session and then brainstorm how to build their own mystery to engage participants in a play-based approach to environmental education and advocacy.

Berlin (in person) Speakers

Ania Upstill

GenderWise

Ania (they/them) is a queer and trans performer, theatre maker, teaching artist and award-winning clown. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre (Professional Training Program), Ania’s recent work celebrates LGBTQIA+ artists with a focus on gender... Read More →

Wednesday June 5, 2024 10:00 - 11:30 EDT
In-Person Berlin

Seed session

City New York City
Country USA, United States
Language English
Affiliation Independent
Room Number Coworking - 2

03:00 EDT

Greenprints for resilient, biodiverse & healthy communities - Nature, People, Art and Science

Come learn about designing a greenprint in this informative and interactive session! A greenprint is a plan, tool or process that reveals the benefits provided by nature’s services. Greenprints cover different landscapes (from urban to rural) and scales (from a city to a region). The flexible and collaborative approach engages partners and uses science to identify and activate multiple-benefit nature-based solutions to address community needs. It's an art and science.

Virtual Speakers

Rob McDonald

Berlin (in person) Speakers

Carrie Schloss

Lead Scientist, Climate and Land Use, The Nature Conservancy

Carrie is a Lead Scientist in the Climate and Land programs and focuses on conservation planning and climate change resilience planning. She develops innovative approaches to spatial planning to guide policy and conservation outcomes. Carrie also leads statewide assessments on biodiversity... Read More →

Christianah Oyenuga, Ph.D.

Sustainable Cities Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Kierstyn Cox

Sustainable Communities Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy

Liz O'Donoghue

Lead, Resilient Communities Strategy, The Nature Conservancy in California

Liz O’Donoghue leads the Resilient Communities Strategy team in the Nature Conservancy of California’s Climate Program. Liz focuses on innovative mitigation approaches, greenprints, sustainable land patterns, climate resilience and transportation planning and policy. Prior to... Read More →

Sponsors and Partners

The Nature Conservancy

Thursday June 6, 2024 03:00 - 04:30 EDT
In-Person Berlin

Skills session

City San Francisco
Country USA
Language English
Affiliation The Nature Conservancy
Room Number Coworking - 1

05:00 EDT

Natural vs. Oppressive Systems thru Resilient Design

Examining food apartheid thru systems thinking and resilient design. This workshop will explore the myth of food choice, the spectrum of system and our inherent resilience in responding to system failure thru image, color and texture making.

Virtual Speakers

Toni Anderson

CEO, MindfulRant, LLC

Berlin (in person) Speakers

Toni Anderson

CEO, MindfulRant, LLC

Thursday June 6, 2024 05:00 - 06:30 EDT
In-Person Berlin

Art-centered seed and skills session

City Chicago
Country USA, United States
Language English
Affiliation Mindful Rant, LLC | Sacred Keepers Sustainability Lab
Room Number The Nightingale House - Room 4

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