In honor of the meeting theme, A Change is Gonna Come, we propose an organized oral session to mark the state of knowledge about using vegetation classification to document vegetation dynamics. This OOS brings together scholars from several countries who are contributing to this effort, which has become more important in light of effects of climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances on vegetation worldwide. Several classification systems throughout the world are coming to fruition, through application of expert knowledge and the quantitative analysis of millions of vegetation surveys. Now that these classification systems are maturing, researchers are eager to apply them to understanding vegetation change and dynamics. Speakers will examine the efficacy of such systems for documenting vegetation change, the opportunities of using classified units in modeling dynamics, and future opportunities. Modeling vegetation dynamics takes many forms. For example, conceptual and quantitative state-and-transition models, spatial models, and vegetation observations all provide opportunities to use classified vegetation concepts. Speakers will also highlight similarities and differences of vegetation dynamics research in Canada and the US, relative to approaches in Australia, Latin America, and Africa. All talks will pose questions that forward a research agenda for studying vegetation dynamics through classification that helps address ecosystem change in the 21st century.