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Science for the Public

Résumé en Français	Resumen en Español

The Nanjing Botanic Garden began its education programme in the late 1970s. Since then the programme has undergone considerable development and in particular with the establishment of a Scientific Group in 1983 whose aim is to make science more accessible to the general public. The principal tasks of the Group include:

 

1. Maintaining and making the garden's facilities available for education.
2. Making science accessible to the general public.
3. Increasing the public's awareness of plant science and the importance of botanic gardens.
4. Collection, compilation, translation and publication of popular science works.

Ensuring that science is made more available to young people through education is of paramount importance to the Nanjing Botanic Garden. The Education Programme provides its services to elementary schools, middle schools and universities. It has been developed to complement classroom teaching and fit into the schools' curriculum. Taking advantage of the Garden's living collection and landscaped environment, the programme has developed vivid and interesting activities such as autumn or spring outings, story-telling sessions, handicrafts using plants etc. The activities take account of the childrens'  natural curiosity and lead them to observe and discover the beauty of nature, to cultivate a love and respect for it ,and to create a sense of environmental protection.

Close collaboration is developed between the Garden and the teachers and students of middle schools. Lectures, summer training courses, organized visits and the exchange of scientific information is arranged for biology teachers and for students, summer and winter camps are held, scientific guides are provided and competitions organized to enhance their interest in biology. With respect to university students, professional trainees are regularly received in the Garden to consolidate and build on what they have learned in the classroom, the aim being to integrate theory with practice.

Extra-curricular lectures are given to students on themes such as plants and culture, flower customs, scenery in overseas botanical gardens, etc. These activities play a large part in helping students accumulate botanical knowledge, broaden their outlook and heighten their artistic appreciation.

In the past two years more than 1,000 trainees have visited the Garden, over 1,000 people (in 26 groups) have joined the summer and winter camps and over 20 lectures have been given to university students. All these activities have been very warmly received by school teachers and students and have been successful in helping to create effective co-operative links between educational institutions and the Garden. Attention has also been paid to pre-school education and botanical knowledge. Teaching materials have been prepared on planting and plans are underway to make the Garden more accessible to children of kindergarten age through appropriate design.

To increase social awareness, the Garden strives to utilize various elements of nature in an artistic fashion. For example, through the establishment of a picture gallery and through pamphlets, photographs and pictures etc. Various exhibitions are held such as: "The Plastic Art of Fruits, Vegetable and Flowers"; "Botanical Illustration"; "Chinese Potted Landscape"; "Flower Arranging", etc. and lectures are given on special topics such as "Chinese Herbal Medicine and Health Protection" and, "Plants and the Human Environment".

The Garden has published a number of books such as Floriculture;  Flower Arranging; Artistry and Appreciation of Flower Arranging;  Foliage House Plants; The Control of Flower Diseases and Pests, etc. as well as a number of popular scientific articles and photographs for newspapers and relevant magazines, and translations are also undertaken of important documents including UNESCO's "Ecology in Action: A Programme on Man and the Biosphere". These activites all aim to introduce botanical knowledge to the public and stress the importance of environmental protection.

Although the Education Programme has been hampered by insufficient resources and lack of experience, great achievements have been made and the Garden is eager to develop the programme further. Through close co-operation and the exchange of ideas it is hoped that colleagues at home and abroad will provide the Garden with information about their useful experiences - Roots readers visiting China are of course warmly invited to visit the garden at their convenience. The aim is nothing short of improving the quality of the global environment to benefit ourselves and future generations.

Sensibilisation Scientifique et Pédagogie au Jardin Botanique Nanjing (NBG)

Résumé

Le programme éducatif pédagogique a été commencé au cours des années 1970. Les écoles primaires, les lycées et les universités profitent de ces services. Le programme pédagogique était conçu pour valoriser des ensiegnements et les programmes scolaires. Une collaboration étroite a été établie entre le Jardin et les professeurs et étudiants des lycées.

Au cours des deux derniers ann‚es, plus de 1,000 stagiaires ont été accueillis et plus de 1,000 personnes (en 26 groupes) se sont inscrites aux camps nature pendant l'été et l'hiver. Parallèlement, à l'université plus de 20 conférences ont été suivies par les étudiants. Le Jardin accueille les préscolaires pour des activités de plantation, et les enfants des écoles maternelles pour lesquels des activités pédagogiques ont été préparées. Des aménagements du jardin permettent un meilleur accueil de ces groupes.

Le grand public est sensibilisé à la nature par des photographies, des fascicules et des expositions. Des conférences et des articles de vulgarisation scientifique ont été realisées et certains ont été publiés par le Jardin.Le Jardin désire agrandir et améliorer son programme pédagogique; il espère que des collègues de Chine et d'autres pays lui fourniront leurs propres expériences de leurs programmes. Fianalement, le but de ce travail est de contribuer à l'amélioration de l'environnement dans le monde afin que nos et les générations futures en profitions.

Populización Científica y Educación Ambiental en el Jardín Botánico de Nanjing (JBN)

Resumen

El Jardín Botánico de Nanjing inició su programa de educación ambiental a finales de los años setenta y ofrece sus servicios a escuelas de enseñanza básica, media y universidades. El programa se diseño para complementar la enseñanza en el aula y para encajar con el plan de estudios de las escuelas y colegios. Existe una estrecha colaboración entre el Jardín y los profesores y alumnos, especialmente de escuelas de enseñanzas medias.

En los últimos dos años, más de 1.000 estudiantes visitaron el Jardín, más de 1.000 personas (28 grupos) asistieron a las reuniones estivales y de invierno y se dieron más de 20 conferencias a estudiantes universitarios. Para niños de preescolar se prepararon materiales didácticos sobre la plantación y existen proyectos para hacer el jardín más accesible a los preescolares.

El Jardín fomenta la conciencia social a través de folletos, fotografías, dibujos, etc. También se organizan exposiciones, se dan conferencias sobre temas especiales y han editado varios libros, al igual que artículos y fotografías sobre temas científico-populares.

El Jardín Botánico de Nanjing desea ampliar su programa de educación ambiental y espera recibir información, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional, de otros compañeros sobre sus experiencias educativas. Al fin y al cabo el objetivo es de mejorar la situación medio ambiental global en beneficio de nosotros mismos y de futuras generaciones.