This year’s Symposium agenda features thematic breakout sessions on Thursday afternoon. The goal of the breakouts is to give you the opportunity to reflect on the information you’ve received throughout the Symposium and dive deeper into one theme with a smaller group. This is a great opportunity for you to share your expertise with other attendees, presenters, and the Salazar Center.
In each breakout session, a subject matter expert and facilitator will guide you through a series of questions. There are no right or wrong answers. Our goal is to give you the time and space to reflect, ask questions, and get inspired about how you might apply what you’ve learned in your work. Your responses will be recorded and utilized by the Salazar Center to create post-Symposium resources for our network. No matter which thematic breakout session you choose, you will receive a synopsis of all the conversations!
Once you register for the Symposium, you’ll receive more information about how to sign up for your preferred breakout session.
Breakout Session Themes
The role of cities in a nature-positive future
About 80 percent of North Americans live in cities, which means urban environments must have a place on the path toward a nature-positive future. This session will focus on the unique opportunities cities pose for implementing nature-based solutions, and how urban initiatives can serve as model for prioritizing and expanding equitable climate and nature outcomes for all communities.
Speakers: Jessica Montoya, Trust for Public Land; Cindy Chang, Groundwork Denver
Facilitator: Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, Groundwork USA
The role of private lands in a nature-positive future
Private farms, ranches, and working forests comprise more than half our land mass in North America; woven throughout the continental landscape, they support critical habitat and migration corridors and capture significant levels of carbon. This session will focus on the unique opportunities private lands pose for implementing nature-based solutions, and how land managers can contribute to, and benefit from, both climate and biodiversity targets.
Speakers: Dirk Rasmussen, Colorado Open Lands; Helen Silver, Ground Up Consulting; Brendan Boepple, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
Facilitator: Alex Hager, KUNC
The nexus between traditional ecological knowledge and nature-based solutions
Across the world, Indigenous lands only make up around 20% of the Earth’s territory yet contain a staggering 80% of its remaining biodiversity, underscoring the importance of elevating Indigenous leadership within conservation. As nature-based solutions are scaled across North America, prioritizing traditional ecological knowledge and collaborating with Indigenous communities will be essential to meeting climate and biodiversity targets. This breakout session will dive deep into what an Indigenous-led nature-positive future could look like, and what solutions are best-positioned to support equitable outcomes for Indigenous communities.
Speakers: Gwen Bridge
Facilitator: James Calabaza, Trees, Water, People
‘Nature-positive communities’ – scaling up for impact: a workshop with the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative (Y2Y)
Join our friends from Y2Y in this interactive workshop that will discuss case studies on nature positive economic development in high amenity communities. The discussion will highlight the actions, strategies, and approaches they are incorporating to help communities develop sustainably to bring about lasting systemic change that will drive a nature-positive future and scale up impact from local to larger landscapes.
Facilitator: Patty Richards, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Financing a nature-positive future through carbon and biodiversity markets
As the world increasingly begins to recognize the values ecosystem services provide, innovative mechanisms for financing conservation are being developed across sectors. Carbon and biodiversity markets have been increasing in popularity; however, the rapid development of these systems has left many in the conservation community with questions of effectiveness, equity, accountability, and how to access the benefits the markets provide. This breakout session will invite attendees to discuss the unique financing opportunities that nature-based solutions and markets can provide to boost conservation efforts.
Speakers: Kevin Maddaford, The Nature Conservancy
Facilitator: Katie Deuel, Center for Large Landscape Conservation