News published: 30 May 2025

Global Call: Help Shape the Future of Botanic Garden Education

Botanic gardens have long served as vibrant, living museums of plant life—places where science, conservation, and education meet. As dynamic venues for public education, they play a vital role in fostering environmental awareness and biodiversity literacy. Despite this, the ways in which botanic gardens design and implement educational programmes remain insufficiently documented on a global scale. How are gardens engaging today’s visitors? What challenges do they face, and what innovative practices are emerging across the globe?

To answer these questions, we warmly invite directors and education professionals from botanic gardens worldwide to participate in the Botanic Garden Education (BGE 2025) survey—a new international study designed to provide a comprehensive overview of current practices, priorities, and challenges in botanic garden education.

It’s been nearly two decades since the last global survey of this kind (Kneebone & Willison, 2007). As the world has changed, so too have the ways botanic gardens communicate the importance of biodiversity, sustainability, and ecological stewardship. BGE 2025 aims to deliver timely insights into five key areas:

1. Institutional missions and educational priorities
2. Educational staff and professional roles
3. Educational methods, tools and resources
4. Emerging challenges and future directions
5. Educational partnerships and infrastructures

Beyond research outcomes, the project aspires to bring data to life. Your input will contribute to the development of an interactive world map for botanic garden and biodiversity education—a visually engaging platform that will showcase participating gardens, highlight global educational trends, and serve as a resource for professionals, policymakers, and the public alike.

Your voice matters. By participating, you’ll help build a clearer picture of how botanic gardens educate and inspire—and help shape the global community of biodiversity education for years to come.

The BGE 2025 Survey is open now!

The BGE 2025 survey team is a partnership between the University of Gothenburg, the University of Neuchatel, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and the Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre. Contact: Harald Raaijmakers – harald.raaijmakers@gu.se