Education E-update

Education E-update turns 5!

In just a few months, Education E-update will celebrate its fifth birthday! Over the past several years, we've enjoyed bringing you the latest news and ideas from botanic gardens around the world. Now we're interested in hearing what you would like to see in E-update in the future. What features would be most useful? What could we do to make E-update more relevant to your work? Send us your ideas for the next five years of Education E-update, and we'll work to incorporate your ideas in the coming months.

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

International Diploma in Botanic Garden Education: BGCI and Kew's highly regarded International Diploma in Botanic Garden Education takes place this year from 20 September to 22 October. Learn in a stimulating environment with colleagues from all over the world, participate in thought-provoking discussions and hands-on activities, and visit sites of excellence in environmental education and interpretation.

Fourth Global Botanic Gardens Congress: Join hundreds of botanic garden staff in Dublin, Ireland, for the Fourth Global Botanic Gardens Congress. Hosted by the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin (Ireland), participants from all over the world will present their latest work in plant conservation and education. The findings from two BGCI research projects--Social Inclusion in Botanic Gardens and Islamic Gardens in the UK--will also be presented.

Article request for Roots: October's issue of BGCI's education journal, Roots, will focus on education and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. In October this year, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will agree on revised targets for the GSPC. Is your garden's education programme supporting the implementation of the GSPC targets? If so, we would like to hear from you. Please email Julia Willison .

Sustainable horticulture symposium at RBG Canada: 'Living Plants, Livable Communities: Exploring Sustainable Horticulture for the 21st Century' will be held from 16-19 February at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario (Canada). The meeting will bring together horticulturists, landscape professionals, scholars and the public to explore topics including agriculture in urban settings and water management. Panel discussions, keynote presentations, workshops, and poster presentations will be featured.

Research on permaculture and botanic gardens: Erin Marteal, Graduate Fellow at Cornell University (USA), is conducting research on the use of permaculture in botanic gardens, and is working to identify botanic gardens worldwide that are using permaculture either in their own horticulture practices or as a tool for ecological literacy and education.  Please email Erin if you know of any botanic gardens using permaculture, or if you have a perspective on the relationship between botanic gardens and permaculture.

Children's garden to include wetlands display: The Albury Botanic Garden (Australia) has received a $17,000 donation to fund the construction of wetlands, including two billabongs, a bird hide, plants, and a jetty, over the next two years.

Launch of Growing Schools Garden accreditation: Botanic Gardens Education Network (UK) has launched a Growing Schools Garden accreditation scheme. Gaining this accreditation demonstrates that a garden has the necessary skills and resources to provide a high-quality training and advice for schools in using planting schemes and the growing and nurturing of plants.

Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney to open evolution art exhibit: '21%02', a multimedia installation by artist Jenny Pollak, will open later this month at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (Australia). Using video, projected images, sounds, mirrors, glass, and fabric, the exhibit focuses on the rise of blue green algae and evokes the creation of life on earth more than 38 billion years ago.

What's new at your botanic garden? 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: Botanic gardens around the world are featuring creative options to lure more visitors and audiences through their gates. We recently learned that the Birmingham Botanical Garden (USA) and Denver Botanic Garden (USA) are offering free wi-fi to attract visitors. Does your botanic garden offer free wi-fi for visitors? Click on a response below to cast your vote!

Yes, we offer free wi-fi for visitors.

No, we do not offer free wi-fi for visitors.

In December, we asked whether there is a strategic plan for education programmes at your botanic garden. Here's what you said!

Tools You Can Use

'The Nature of Plants': From filmmakers Terry Youk and Ann Armbrecht, 'Numen: The Nature of Plants' is a 95-minute documentary focusing on the healing power of plants and the natural world. The film includes interviews with doctors, herbalists, and ethnobotanists, and features stunning footage of medicinal plants. Watch the ten-minute preview.

GardenRant: Online since 2006, GardenRant features a range of topics from garden plants to garden politics. The blog is popular with home gardeners, garden writers and editors, horticulturists, and landscape professionals.

Real Cool Futures: The Eden Project's (UK) 'Real Cool Futures' is a web-based resource for 14- to 19-year-olds. It aims to inspire and inform young people with ideas for how to earn their living and make a positive contribution to the future of the planet. The website features case studies of people who already have 'real cool' jobs and shows how they got there and how their job makes a difference.

Professional development opportunities at the World Forestry Center: The World Forestry Center (USA) is offering two professional development opportunities for educators and natural resource professionals. Partial fellowship awards are available. The International Educators Institute runs 11-16 July, and is designed to help teachers learn new classroom content. The International Fellowship Programme brings professionals in natural resources to the Center to conduct a practical research project. Fellows also participate in weekly field trips, interviews, and site visits. Fellowships are open to participants from around the world.

Charles Darwin Trust launches e-newsletter: The new e-newsletter from the Charles Darwin Trust includes information about forthcoming events and ideas on how Darwin can inspire learning about science and the natural 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.

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