Barns, S.Hawken, S.Coupland, G.Asahiro, K.2025-10-162025-10-162025Environment & Planning. D, Society and Space, 20250263-77581472-3433https://hdl.handle.net/2440/147805First published online: October 14, 2025. OnlinePublIn recent years growing numbers of fast-growing ‘mini forests’ have been planted around the world using an approach for rapid urban greening known as the ‘Miyawaki method’. Originating in Japan, the Miyawaki method was first developed as a relatively novel ecological engineering approach to the afforestation of industrial and degraded landscapes. However, in recent years escalating climate impacts and loss of biodiversity has inspired a new generation of Miyawaki forest practitioners working globally in diverse ecological contexts. In this paper, we discuss the Miyawaki forest movement’s evolution, and discuss its introduction into Australia through the lens of three Australian-based practitioners. Connecting Australian practitioners with the work of global practitioner networks, we explore the methods, practices and collaborations involved in the making of Miyawaki forests, before turning to how their value is being captured. We draw from a multi-species cities perspective to explore the multi-dimensional values and benefits of Miyawaki forests, which span both human and more-than-human ‘well-beings’ as sites of human–nature gathering, but also requiring collaboration across ecological, cultural and social spheres in order to be sustained over time.en© The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Urban forestry; environmental stewardship; citizen science; healthy placemaking; multispecies citiesJournal article10.1177/026377582513836192024-05-15693600Hawken, S. [0000-0001-6874-3730]