Education E-update

Happy New Year!

Here at BGCI, we're excited to continue our work in 2009 in support of plant-based conservation education at botanic gardens and other education sites. Later this year, we'll co-sponsor our Seventh International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens in Durban, South Africa. We also look forward to expanding the celebration of Plant Conservation Day in May. You can find out more about both of these exciting education opportunities below. Do you have exciting news about changes to your education programmes in 2009? Send us your news, and we'll include it in an upcoming Education E-update.

Best wishes,
The BGCI Education Team
education@bgci.org (for general education enquiries to BGCI)
e-update@bgci.org (for Education E-update enquiries)

Education News From Around the World

Plant Conservation Day expands in 2009: BGCI is pleased to announce that Boeing will this year be supporting the expansion of the Plant Conservation Day website and resources. As in previous years, we are working with the Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH) to develop the best resources possible. Plant Conservation Day celebrations this May in Australia, China, the United Kingdom, Holland, and the United States will provide opportunities to learn about plant conservation efforts close to home and around the world. If you have celebrated Plant Conservation Day in the past or want to have your say about how we can help you celebrate in the future, we want to hear from you! Email us to let us know what you think. Additionally, be sure to check the Plant Conservation Day website for updates and additional details in the coming months.

Education Congress abstract deadline nears: Abstracts are still welcome for BGCI's Seventh International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens. Submit your abstract before the Jan. 31 deadline in one of four themes: achieving the MDGs and GSPC through education; ways of learning towards environmental justice; climate change and botanic gardens; and the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The Congress will be held Nov. 1-5 in Durban, South Africa, and is co-sponsored by Durban Botanic Gardens. Visit the Congress website for more information and online abstract submission details. You can also sign up to receive regular Congress updates via email.

Share your thoughts about Roots: BGCI wants to know what you think of Roots, our education review. Your views will help us develop a more effective publication. Please take just a few minutes to complete our online survey.

Fairchild Challenge honoured: The Fairchild Challenge, a programme of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (USA), has been selected as one of 30 leading projects by the Conservation Fund's National Forum on Children and Nature. The 30 projects were selected from a pool of more than 500 proposals as innovative models that take concrete steps locally to connect children with nature. Launched in 2002, the Fairchild Challenge engages tens of thousands of teenage students and their teachers at sites in the United States and around the world. This year, BGCI is teaming up with the Fairchild Challenge to offer the 'Cartoons for Climate Change' Challenge. Selected cartoons will be featured on the BGCI website in May.

New walkway planned for Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden: Thailand's first canopied walkway is being planned for the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in Chiang Mai. The 350-metre-long walkway will open in 2010 and will be used for both research and education programmes. Once completed, the walkway will be Southeast Asia's longest canopied walkway.

Climate change symposium planned in Pakistan: The Shah Latif University Botanical Garden and Herbarium (Pakistan) will host a symposium, "Compatible With Climate Change," March 10-12. In addition to plant science themes, the symposium will address education, capacity building, communication tools, and public awareness campaigns related to climate change.

Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens receives education grant: HSBC Bank has donated US $10,000 to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens (USA) to fund Project Empower. The new education programme will bring more than 1,000 local primary school students to the garden for hands-on field trips. Project Empower is designed to teach about plant parts, fruits and grains, and the role of plants in our daily lives.

What's new at your botanic garden? Send us news from your botanic garden or education site, and we'll include it in an upcoming issue of Education E-update.

PlantEd Poll

It's quick and fun! Read this month's poll question and click on your response. We'll publish the results in the next Education E-update!

This month's poll: Does your botanical garden or education site publish a blog? Click on a response below to cast your vote!

Yes, we publish a blog.

No, we do not publish a blog.

Last month, we asked whether your botanic garden or education publishes and sells any of its classroom curricula or kits. Here's what you said!

Tools You Can Use

Planet2025: On the Planet2025 website, you can upload and share audio and video content that addresses the environmental challenges facing our planet, and your vision of creative solutions. Users from around the world are adding content to this website on a daily basis, and the site offers an excellent opportunity for botanic gardens to share their work with others around the world.

American Community Gardening Association conference: The 30th annual conference of the American Community Gardening Association (USA) will take place Aug. 6-9 at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. The ACGA website has full details about the conference, themed 'Putting Down Roots'.

Have you got an education resource that you can't do without? Send us your most valuable tools or resources, and we'll include them in an upcoming issue of Education E-update.

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