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Education E-update
- August 2009
BGCI Education Team
 | Warming up for Copenhagen
 In the run up to the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen this December, where governments will be thrashing out a successor to the Kyoto protocol, the first-ever international conference on teaching climate change will take place, also in Copenhagen. In a drive to encourage increased educational activity in botanic gardens around climate change, BGCI has published a range of new web-based climate change resources (see below). Is your garden already running education and communication programmes on this theme? Send us information about how you are teaching about climate change, as well as your other news, and we'll include your stories in an upcoming issue of 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
BGCI launches new climate change education resources: Last month, BGCI announced a range of new climate change education resources available on the BGCI website. A variety of education activities are suited for Key Stage 2 , Key Stage 3 and GCSE level. You can also download a presentation on the relationship between plants and climate change and a guide to setting up a climate change education trail in your botanic garden. Fairchild Challenge/BGCI Global Option for 2009/2010 announced: For the second year running, BGCI are teaming up with The Fairchild Challenge to offer an exciting global option for students. This year, however, the option is available not only to sites participating in The Fairchild Challenge, but also to sites taking part in Plant Conservation Day. The Fairchild Challenge is an annual environmental education outreach programme of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden (USA). For this year's global option challenge, students will design a CD cover for 'Footprints', a new single from London-based band Storey. The song is a vivid, youthful call-to-arms to tackle climate change. The winning design will be featured on the cover of the new CD single. Latest index of Roots now available: Looking for information or an article from a back issue of Roots, BGCI's tri-lingual, bi-annual education review? The latest index to Roots has now been published and adds 15 more editions to the existing index. You can search for organisations, people, meetings, subjects, plants and animals or use the article authors and guest editors index to find exactly what you need. Biodiversity Expo coming to Walter Sisulu: Concerns about climate change, the reduction in our carbon footprint, and environmental preservation will be the foci of the Biodiversity Expo and Rare Fair set for 18-20 September at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden (South Africa). The Expo aims to expose 2000 Grade 9 and 10 learners from local schools to careers in natural sciences and biodiversity. The Rare Fair, which will run in conjunction with the Biodiversity Expo, will showcase rare plants and books on African horticulture. University Botanical Garden in Balcik offers new attractions: Visitors to the University Botanical Garden in Balcik (Bulgaria) can now take in several new collections. Decorative vegetables are now on display to showcase the incredible colors and shapes of the plants. Additionally, a new exhibit features floating plants from as far away as the Himalayas. Students create new garden at Singapore Botanic Gardens: More than 30 students recently took part in the new 'Gardenstars' programme at Singapore Botanic Gardens. The project challenged the students to design and implement a new garden in the Botanic Gardens. The students were allocated 500 square metres in the Gardens, and received training from two garden designers. The final garden included four mini-gardens connected by pathways. The mini-gardens included plants and recycled materials. We want to hear from you! Send us the latest news from your botanic garden or education site, and we'll include it in an upcoming issue of Education E-update. | | | | Tools You Can Use
'Education for Sustainability': The Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES) has released a new brochure that tackles the question: What is education for sustainability? The pamphlet describes the components of education for sustainability, highlights examples from Australia, and makes recommendations for practitioners. It also includes information about the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Download a copy of 'Education for sustainability: the role of education in engaging and equipping people for change' from the ARIES website. New webcasts from Earthscan: Earthscan has begun offering a free one-hour webcast on a different topic each month, giving viewers the opportunity to learn from and interact with leading authorities from a range of different fields. The audio presentations will be accompanied by illustrative slides, and viewers will have the opportunity to contribute to discussions by submitting questions during the events. The subjects covered will include all of Earthscan's specialties, including business, climate change, energy, the built environment and natural resource management. APGA call for proposals: The American Public Gardens Association is now accepting proposals for its 2010 conference, which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). The conference, themed 'The garden canvas: colors of success', will be held June 1-5, 2010. The online submission process allows users to compose abstracts securely and collaboratively with colleagues throughout the world. What's in your education toolbox? Send us your most valuable tools or resources, and we'll include them in an upcoming issue of Education E-update. | | Housekeeping
To subscribe to Education E-update, use our online form. To unsubscribe from Education E-update, simply reply to this email with "unlist" in the subject line. For information about how we protect your privacy, see our Privacy Policy. To reuse content from Education E-update in your own publication, send us an email. Feel free to forward this newsletter, however. | | | | Late August/Early September 2009 | | In the Spotlight This month, we shine the spotlight on the Botanic Garden of Smith College (USA). If you would like to be "In the Spotlight" or would like to nominate a person or garden to be profiled, send us an email. 'Botanical Architecture' is the latest exhibition at the Botanic Garden of Smith College (USA). This innovative exhibition showcases the connections between plants and architecture by featuring the design work of Smith College students. Founded in 1871, Smith College is one of the largest liberal arts colleges for women in the United States. Over the centuries and continuing to this day, botanical forms found in nature have provided inspiration for fine art and architecture. Corinthian columns use the forms of the acanthus leaf, while Ionic columns draw on the spiral form seen in unfurling fern leaves. The Crystal Palace erected in the 1850s in London was based on the structure of the Amazonian water lily leaf. Additionally, the influence of botanical forms is ubiquitous in the decorative arts. Textile and wallpaper designs, picture frames, pottery designs, sculpture, and mosaics are but a few examples. Students in the College's Introduction to Architecture: Language and Craft studio class, taught by Jim Middlebrook, were asked to reinterpret the spatial language of flowers. Each student chose a flower from the Botanic Garden. She photographed this flower and analyzed its spatial character in terms of certain organisational principles. The student built a model to abstractly represent the flower according to this visual 'language'. Finally, these forms were appropriated by the student in the design of a theoretical pavilion for the display of flowers next to the Garden's Paradise Pond. On display in the Church Exhibition Gallery are the photos, models, and pavilion designs. 'Botanical Architecture' is open to the public daily from mid-September through October 11. For more information about the 'Botanical Architecture' exhibit at the Botanic Garden of Smith College, visit the Gardens' website. | | | | | | What We're Reading  The Plant Hunters, by Carolyn Fry. History is an important part of educating about plants! This fascinating new book details the lives and adventures of the botanical pioneers who changed the face of the world's landscape. Click on the image above to buy this book from BGCI's Amazon bookstore. | | | | | | Make Your Plans for South Africa! Join hundreds of botanic garden and plant-based educators in Durban, South Africa, from 1-5 November, 2009, for BGCI's Seventh International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens. Visit the Education Congress website for full details and registration information. 
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