At last month's American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta conference in Chicago, I had the pleasure of meeting so many of you doing on-the-ground plant conservation education work throughout the U.S. Hearing your stories, successes and challenges has been inspirational for my work here at BGCI. While the conference deepened my understanding of your work, the question I was asked most often during the conference was, "As BGCI's U.S. Education Officer, what exactly do you do?" To help answer this question, we have recently updated the BGCI (U.S.) website (www.bgci.org/us) with a new page describing our education programs (www.bgci.org/us/education_programs.html). In the coming year, we will offer a range of public awareness and education programs to support your work as plant conservation educators. Check out what we're up to, and please be in touch with any questions or suggestions you may have.

Best wishes,
Brian Johnson
Education Officer, BGCI ( U.S.)
Editor, Education E-update
brian.johnson@bgci.org

BGCI (U.S.) Joins U.S. Partnership for UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: To coincide with the recently launched United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, BGCI (U.S.) has become a partner in the United States Partnership for the UN Decade. The U.S. Partnership is a non-partisan volunteer partnership of organizations in the United States dedicated to promoting the Decade and its purposes. Member organizations come from every sector, including higher education, K-12, business, non-profits, government, and faith communities. For more information or to become a partner institution: www.uspartnership.org.

Coming Soon! Plant Conservation Adult Education Course: As part of BGCI (U.S.)'s recently launched Plant for the Planet! public awareness campaign, an adult education course curriculum targeting home gardeners is in development. This one-session, three-hour course, "Plant for the Planet! Conservation for Home Gardeners," will be piloted at Brooklyn Botanic Garden this fall. After program evaluation and revision, the course will be piloted at three additional gardens before the curriculum is distributed free to gardens throughout the U.S. If you are interested in serving as a pilot and evaluation site for the course in early 2006, please contact Brian Johnson at brian.johnson@bgci.org, or via phone at 718-623-7215.

Your Name in Lights on the BGCI ( U.S.) Website! Does your living institution have an interesting conservation story to tell? BGCI (U.S.) is adding profiles to our website (www.bgci.org/us) of innovative, successful, and inspirational conservation programs at gardens, arboreta and zoos throughout the country. We will highlight up to two new conservation profiles each month, but we can't do it without you! Email Brian Johnson at brian.johnson@bgci.org with information about your institution's conservation programs today.

Plants, People & Partnerships: Volunteer Interaction '05: Volunteer Interaction '05 is a conference for volunteers and their managers from public and private gardens around the globe. Jointly presented by the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, The JC Raulston Arboretum, and the North Carolina Botanical Garden, the confab will take place Oct. 26-29 at the Airport Hilton in Raleigh-Durham, NC. Early bird registration deadline: Aug. 1. For more information: www.aabga.org/public_html/interaction.

Education for Sustainable Development: Guidelines for Action in Botanic Gardens: With the recent launch of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, garden educators may be wondering just how to approach this vast topic. BGCI's recently released Education for Sustainable Development: Guidelines for Action in Botanic Gardens provides a rationale for why botanic gardens need to be involved in ESD and offers guidance to gardens setting up programs. Download the document at www.bgci.org.

ActionBioscience.org: ActionBioscience.org is a non-commercial, educational website created to promote bioscience literacy. The site provides articles by scientists, science educators and science students on issues related to seven bioscience challenges: environment, biodiversity, genomics, biotechnology, evolution, new frontiers in science and bioscience education. In addition, the web site provides educators with lessons and resources to enhance teaching. For more information: www.actionbioscience.org

Each month, we answer a plant conservation education question that you've always wanted answered. Send your questions to
e-update@bgci.org.

This month, we are answering a timely question and one that we heard asked at the AABGA conference in Chicago:

Q: "What is Education for Sustainable Development?"
A: As environmental educators, we must stay up-to-date with the latest ideas and movements in our field. Today, perhaps the most talked about education initiative is Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). In 2004, the World Conservation Union's Commission on Education and Communication offered this definition for ESD: "Education for Sustainable Development motivates, equips and involves individuals and social groups in reflecting on how we currently live and work, in making informed decisions and creating ways to work towards a more sustainable world. ESD is about learning for change." The somewhat broad nature of this language reflects the necessity for global interpretation and implementation of this important concept. As educators around the world begin to shape this emerging field, it is becoming clear that ESD will transform our notion of traditional conservation and environmental education. For example, implicit in ESD is the inclusion of subjects such as economics, poverty alleviation, and human rights, among others—all areas that have not been traditional aspects of mainstream environmental education. In this first year of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, it is our responsibility as U.S. plant conservation educators to explore and embrace this growing global approach to environmental education.

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To reach a real person, send an email to Brian Johnson, Education Officer, at brian.johnson@bgci.org or call 718-623-7215.