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Education E-update
- October 2009
BGCI Education Team
 | A Busy Autumn at BGCI
 October could not have been a busier month at BGCI! The Sixth International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens is about to begin in Durban, South Africa. We've also published the latest issue of our education journal Roots (see article below), and are continuing to promote our new climate change education resources and this year's collaboration with the Fairchild Challenge. We look forward to seeing many familiar places next week in Durban. For those of you unable to make it to the Education Congress, don't miss next month's E-update, which will include loads of information, ideas, and updates from the Congress. In the meantime, please send us news from your botanic garden or education site, and we'll include it in the next 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
New issue of Roots out now! BGCI's education review, Roots, has just been published on the theme of 'International Year of Biodiversity' in anticipation of next year's celebrations. Contributors to this issue highlight the many ways in which gardens can develop an understanding of biodiversity with their audiences. For example, Professor Claudio Longo from Brera Botanic Garden (Italy) describes an innovative trail following the wonderful world of bark. Suzanne Kapelari from Innsbruck Botanic Garden (Austria) writes about alpine biodiversity and how the garden is educating children on the impacts of climate change. Marie Studer from Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology (USA) introduces the online 'Encyclopedia of Life,' a massive, freely available resource on global biodiversity. Roots is published twice a year and sent to all BGCI members. For information on becoming a member, please visit our website. Chrysanthemum show at Botanic Garden of Smith College: Floral fireworks will be erupting inside the Botanic Garden of Smith College's Lyman Conservatory (USA) during the annual autumn chrysanthemum show Nov. 7-22. The theme for this year's show is 'Bamboo and Blossoms' and will feature indoor and outdoor bamboo sculptures, lectures, a chrysanthemum-themed poetry reading, harp music and a photography exhibition. New 'green' education centre at North Carolina Botanical Garden: The new Education Centre for the North Carolina Botanical Garden (USA) opened earlier this month and is expected to secure the highest level of certification for green architecture. The 29,656-square-foot centre consists of three buildings connected by covered breezeways. All systems and materials have been designed to minimize environmental impact and support human health, and include such technologies as photovoltaic panels, above- and below-ground rainwater cisterns, storm water retention ponds, geothermal heating and air-conditioning, natural day-lighting and low-flow plumbing. Construction materials were obtained from within a 500-mile radius, including lumber milled from the site. There are also many recycled components, such as steel beams made out of scrap metal from automobiles. Visitor centre opens at RBG Edinburgh: The John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (UK) opened its doors in October. The new visitor centre includes the 'Botanics Shop' and a new Gateway Restaurant. The John Hope Gateway has been constructed as a model of sustainability incorporating alternative energy sources, water recycling and efficient design. Inside, visitors can discover the world of plants and the scientific work of RBGE through a unique set of interactive experiences and activities. University of Oxford Botanic Garden features 'The Warp and the Weft': In October and November, the University of Oxford Botanic Garden (UK) is featuring 'The Warp and the Weft,' a series of events promoting ethical and Fairtrade fibres and clothes. The events are organised in partnership with students from the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art and Trading for Development, a local ethical fashion business. The events celebrate the International Year of Natural Fibres and are aimed at raising awareness of Fairtrade and ethical fashion options. Featured events include an exhibition of fibre-inspired artworks, a plant fibre trail around the Garden, a family-friendly fibre afternoon, and a celebratory knit-off. 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. | | 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: What is the busiest time of year for education programmes at your botanic garden? Click on a response below to cast your vote! Winter Spring Summer Autumn Last month, we asked whether your botanic garden or education site was planning any special events to mark the new spring or autumn season. Here's what you said! 
| | Tools You Can Use
UN Decade report released: As the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development reaches its mid-point, a mid-Decade review has been conducted to take stock of what has been accomplished. The review was designed to identify the obstacles encountered in creating structures, provisions and conditions that facilitate the development and implementation of ESD. The review also aims to generate possible actions, based on the lessons learned during the first five years, for the remainder of the Decade. Barriers to and enablers of ESD and EE: UK-based Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd) offers this summary of desk-based research by writer Gillian Symons into ESD and EE. The report looks at past teacher surveys and research, and what they tell us about current practice, and barriers to and enablers for sustainable schools. It also considers good practice in research with teachers and schools, gaps in existing research and recommendations for further research. Fairchild Challenge/BGCI Global Option 2009/2010: BGCI is teaming up with The Fairchild Challenge to offer an exciting Global Option for students ages 14-19. The challenge? Design a CD cover for a climate change-themed single from London-based band Storey! Click here for details. Food gardens and ecology workshop in South Africa: Entabeni Education Centre in Drakensburg, South Africa, will host a food gardens and ecology workshop 20-22 November. The programme looks at issues and practices such as food sovereignty, horticulture, permaculture and ecological literacy together with collective civic responses that are beginning to take place and which could provide a range of meaningful environmental actions. The programme will include discussions, presentations and practical work sessions. For bookings and information, email Adri Mari du Plessis. Index to Roots: BGCI's education journal Roots has published hundreds of articles and resources over the years. Now you can easily find the information you're looking for online. Search the Roots index to find organisations, authors, meetings, subjects, resources, and places. The index covers 15 editions from December 2000 to October 2007. 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. | | | | October 2009 | | In the Spotlight This month, we shine the spotlight on Verónica Franco Toriz, Head of Environmental Education at 'Xíitbal neek' Regional Botanic Garden (Mexico). If you would like to be "In the Spotlight" or would like to nominate someone to be profiled, send us an email. How long have you worked in plant-based education? In 1985 I was given the opportunity to initiate the design and help with the establishment of the botanic garden. I began developing educational activities in 1992 and have been involved in working with education and plants for 17 years. How did you become involved in plant-based education? In 1992 I had no work and so went to the Regional Botanic to see if I was able to collaborate in something. They said 'yes' and I've never looked back. I began by conducting guided visits and producing a video script for the general public about biodiversity. The initial contacts I had with school groups motivated me to continue working in the exciting world of education. Apart from the plant collections, I discovered my potential for developing different strategies to attract the public and experiment with new forms of learning. Above all I discovered how wonderful it is to convey to the public the amazing world of plants and the benefits they offer us. What would you say your philosophy is on education and learning? I think my philosophy is connected with utopian and collaborative work. I believe firmly in the possibility to construct a better future and in the right of new generations to live in a global society, which must be built from the work and collective consciousness of those who live on this planet. We can begin with small efforts with schools that visit the botanic garden. What is your most memorable moment as a plant-based educator? I think the moments that I have most enjoyed have been the summer courses for children aged 7-9 years. This is a wonderful age in which children are eager to experiment and be creative, using their own resources. Every activity they are keen to do, and they always enjoy it. I think this is a key stage not only to raise awareness generally about plants, but to also raise awareness about the situation of our planet and what we can and must do individually and collectively. I remember when the children first came in the summer. They then returned many times -- a second and even a third time. Some of them, now adolescents, have returned to work voluntarily on the summer courses for young children. What is your favourite teaching technique? I think one of the techniques that I most enjoy is education mediation. I developed this technique by participating in a range of mediated learning experiences, in which the mediator promoted different types of experiences in the classroom. I also enjoy promoting experiences similar to that developed earlier with family and grandparents, as I feel that while the pace of life has been lost, the emotional and social value of education is very valuable. Mediated learning is derived from the the Theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability by Reuven Feuerstein, which is described as 'the unique propensity of human beings to change or modify the structure of their cognitive functioning to adapt to the changing demands of a life situation.' What one teaching resource could you not do without? I believe that without pedagogical resources, it is not possible to achieve my educational work. Part of the richness of educational work is the development of creativity, the necessity to improvise and innovate. As such when one does not have a planned resource one has to innovate and find a way to substitute it. In the case of the Regional Botanic Garden, the plants offer an enormous amount of material that, used with intention, result in an invaluable pedagogical resource. What is the one thing you want your audiences to go away knowing? That plants exist, that they are alive, and that although we live in a city where urban growth is explosive, our life depends on plants. What one piece of advice can you offer to an educator starting up an education programme in a botanic garden? Contact and share your questions and visions about educational programmes and activities in the botanic garden with those educators that have more experience. Young educators generally have a great deal of drive and energy to develop activities. However, before doing so, I would recommend that they first structure their ideas, their proposals and their aims: What am I going to do? How am I going to do this? What am I doing this for? Who am I aiming this at? How will I know that what I have done is good or not? It is important to be trained in practical activities, but one must not ignore the theoretical aspects that will inform and guide our educational work. For more information about education programmes at 'Xíitbal neek' Regional Botanic Garden, email Veronica Franco. | | | | | | What We're Reading  Environmental Learning: Insights from Research Into the Student Experience, by Mark Rickinson, Cecilia Lundholm, and Nick Hopwood. Based on in-depth empirical studies in school and university classrooms, this book presents rich insights into the complexities and dynamics of students' environmental learning. The authors show how careful analysis of students' environmental learning experiences can provide powerful pointers for future practice, policy and research. Click on the image above to buy this book from BGCI's Amazon bookstore. | | | | | | | | | Education E-update is a free e-newsletter published monthly by Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Botanic Gardens Conservation International
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