Imagine Lecture: Planting Our Place

Location

Eau Claire, WI In person

Mayo Clinic Health System
1221 Whipple St.
Lower level Auditorium
Use hospital entrance.

Date and Time

09/21/2023 7 p.m.; 8 p.m. reception

Cost

Free

Class Details

Since his childhood, internationally bestselling and prize-winning author Nickolas Butler — an Eau Claire native and graduate of Eau Claire Memorial High School — has seen a concerted effort on the part of the community to embrace Eau Claire's rivers and riverfronts, which were historically seen as nothing more than watery thoroughfares for the logging industry or cooling mechanisms for local manufacturers. But this community has a new challenge: to further heal and reconciliate with the landscape that was denuded of trees during the 19th century, and now, with the emergence of the emerald ash borer, a new and pernicious loss of thousands of local trees along streets and in the wild.

What Butler proposes is a project to aggressively reforest the city and its surrounding areas — to think of every square foot in the city as an opportunity to plant a tree. This act, a community project, would activate every citizen to rethink their homes, lawns and boulevards. In this way, the city might learn about its past, participate in its present, and prepare for a hotter, dirtier and more populated future.

About the lecture

The Imagine Lecture was inspired by the late Dr. David Winter's relentless pursuit of knowledge, innovation and never being afraid to envision something more, different or better. Its guest lecturers embody those ideals and bring them to life to inspire others.