Supporting inspirational learning about plants and their importance

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e-fronds, Issue 1, May 2007

Welcome to the first trial issue of e-fronds, the electronic successor to Botanic Garden Education Network’s newsletter, 'Fronds'. We hope that e-fronds will help to keep you up-to-date with the latest information about new resources, training days, techniques, reviews and news from the site-based and plant education field. If you have any news, views, ideas or comments you would like to contribute to the next issue, or to the BGEN website, contact us at fronds@bgen.org.uk

Events

As always, there is loads coming up on the BGEN calendar. Click on the links for more information.

Are your green fingers faded? Have your plants released distress beacons? Come to the Horticultural Training Day at RHS Wisley on Thursday 6th September and find out how to sow, mow and grow your way to success with plants. More information and booking forms will be available on this website shortly, under http://www.bgen.org.uk/docs/events.html

Concerned about plant extinction? Worried about climate change? Get involved with the debate at the BGEN Annual Conference: Making a Difference – The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Hosted at the gorgeous National Botanic Garden of Wales, Wednesday 7th – Friday 9th Nov 2007. More information and booking forms will be available on the BGEN website shortly, under http://www.bgen.org.uk/docs/events.html

Plant Network conference – have a look at their website for the latest conference and meeting information, www.plantnetwork.org. The 2007 congress, Cryptogams, Ferns, Mosses and Lichens in Gardens, is being held at Benmore Botanic Garden (part of RBG Edinburgh), 18th – 20th September.

BGEN needs members' help

What does BGEN mean to you?
Have a think… can you sum up BGEN in a sentence? As a committee seeking to develop and sustain BGEN for the future, this is the challenge we are often faced with. And having a clear answer is vital if we are to increase understanding about BGEN not only with members but also potential members, partners, decision-makers and sponsors. It was from this starting point that BGEN’s proposed mission grew:
‘Supporting inspirational learning about plants and their importance’

Hopefully if we’ve got it right, your response to the above question will be similar. If not we’d be interested to hear how it differed and whether you feel the above is appropriate. Most importantly, is it relevant to your work?

Our version evolved from the 2004 members’ survey and a meeting last year at RHS Wisley, which aimed to reassess what BGEN is and most importantly to explore what we would like it to be in the future and how we can achieve it. From these discussions it quickly became clear that ‘supporting members to deliver education about plants’ was a key objective and this evolved into:

In 5 years time, BGEN will be seen as a key network/voice for inspirational ‘plant based’ environmental education…

This lead to the first draft proposed by the communications sub-group:
‘Supporting inspirational plant based environmental learning’
Learning was preferred to education as it was felt it had a broader base than ‘education’, which is often assumed to mean formal education. Further discussion led to the current version, which we feel is more accessible to the wider public.

But of course these are just our views – we would be interested to know how you, our members, feel. All comments can be forwarded to Ben Oliver at: ben.oliver@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Alternatively please raise your thoughts at the 2007 BGEN AGM on 8th May 2007.

Get your surveys in – we have some interesting data coming through from BGEN members about their gardens. Help us investigate the current situation in education in botanic gardens, submit your data to Ben Oliver, email address as above.

Training report

Petals, Pollen, Pips and Pods – Bringing schools and botanic gardens together
Report by Chris Meakin, Education officer at Westonbirt Arboretum

Led by members of the SAPS team, held at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Tuesday 17th April 2007, 18 attended
Quite simply this was a wonderful course! Having booked on it to help redevelop a flower based programme for KS2 students, I have come back enthused with many ideas that I can adapt to my site at Westonbirt Arboretum. The SAPS team provided a day packed full of useful activities, information and resources that explored structure and function of the flower, pollination, fertilisation, seed dispersal and fast growing techniques.

For me, I had two key moments - I found it quite amazing that with only a sugar solution, birch pollen and microscope, I could see growing pollen tubes within a couple of hours! Dissecting a variety of flower species to observe their different structures and how these help to prevent the flower from self-pollinating was a definite moment of personal learning – absolutely fascinating.

Supplementing the course, the SAPS activity booklets provide an interesting selection of games, role-plays and activities that can be easily transferred to outdoor spaces. These booklets, along with the SAPS website will be very useful to refer teachers to, before and after their visit, helping to create a more cohesive learning experience. I am looking forward to the forthcoming Plant Science Image Database (PSID) which will definitely be a valuable resource.

Thank you to all for an inspiring day.

For more information about SAPS, their work and the resources available, check out their website, http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/

Members’ News

The Glasshouse opens 15th June at RHS Wisley
News from Jacky Chave

To celebrate its 200th birthday in 2004, the Royal Horticultural Society has been building an impressive Glasshouse at RHS Garden Wisley. The new Glasshouse opens to visitors on the 15th June 2007. The huge cathedral-like Glasshouse covers an area of 10 tennis courts and rises to 12.5 m in height, the equivalent of three double-decker buses. It provides a showcase for plants from around the world in three climatic zones, creating tropical, moist-temperate and dry-temperate habitats.

Within the glasshouse a winding path will lead visitors past rocky outcrops, a waterfall and gentle slopes so they can see the plants, including tender plants and some rare and endangered species. A unique feature of this Glasshouse will be the Root Zone where visitors can find out how roots grow by means of interactive displays.

Learning is at the heart of this Glasshouse. School visits, teacher’s continuing professional development courses, adult educational events and family activities will take place within the new Clore Learning Centre, where there is a flexible learning space and a growing lab (glasshouse).

In front of the Clore Learning Centre there is a versatile Teaching Garden designed by Chelsea Gold Medal winning designer Cleve West, which will be used by visitors to the Learning Centre.

For more information, have a look at the RHS website, http://www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/gardens/wisley/glasshouse/index.asp

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Sunderland to Saigon; tales from the Orient
News from intrepid adventurer, Sunderland Museums and Winter Gardens Learning Officer and BGEN committee member, Jennie Beale.

Jennie has been travelling thousands of miles by rail in an adventure to record a memorable journey from Monkwearmouth Station Museum in Sunderland, England to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) in Vietnam. Jennie made this amazing trip along with film-makers from Centre Screen Productions in Manchester, England, who recorded the experiences. The resulting film footage, photographs and objects collected will be on show at Monkwearmouth Station Museum when it opens this summer. The team visited ten different countries and experienced a wide variety of cultures and climates as they travelled the 9,300 miles across two continents, all by rail.

It took 40 days to complete the journey and along the way they forged links with schools and museums, and collected objects that will be featured in the exhibition. The team has had the privilege of being able to compare and contrast their hometown of Sunderland with towns and cities along their journey. They found that in Datong, China, coalmining is still the main industry, whereas in Sunderland the once busy mines are now closed. The team also visited the oldest train in China, which was actually made in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

Jennie says: “It was great to finally reach Saigon and we were delighted to finish the project by visiting a local secondary school. We gave them a copy of the book of Sunderland that we've been using to explain to people we've met on the trip where Sunderland is and what it is like.”

Read Jennie’s tales on her blog, http://www.sunderlandtosaigon.blogspot.com/
News taken from http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/news/article.php?id=735

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Building a sustainable future – the role of botanic gardens

The dust has settled following the end of the 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Wuhan, China. Attracting nearly 1,000 participants from 67 countries, the congress included 4 plenary sessions, 42 symposia, 7 workshops, and 6 network meetings. A total of 202 oral and 145 poster presentations were given during the week.

The Global Botanic Gardens Congress (GBGC) is held every three years and is recognized as the primary international event for botanic gardens worldwide. The Congress is organized by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in collaboration with an in-country host institution.

The aims of the 3rd Global Botanic Gardens Congress were to establish how botanic gardens are and can play their part in building a sustainable future, by reviewing the contribution of botanic gardens to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). The outcomes will provide a framework and guidance for botanic gardens 2007-2010 to achieve the 2010 Botanic Gardens Targets and consider post 2010 objectives.

To do this, the themes for the Congress were based on the sub-objectives of the GSPC:
a) Understanding and documenting plant diversity
b) Conserving plant diversity
c) Using plant diversity sustainably
d) Promoting education and awareness about plant diversity

This meant that one quarter of the congress was devoted to education, with excellent papers delivered by botanic garden educators from around the world. Speakers focussed on topics such as ‘Involving and engaging students for sustainability’, ‘Bringing plant to life through interpretation’, ‘Knowing your visitors –responding to needs’, ‘GSPC Target 14 – meeting the challenge’, ‘Learning from landscapes’, ‘Ecotourism and botanic gardens’, ‘Science, schools and systematics’ and ‘Community empowerment for sustainability’. Abstracts from these sessions can all be found online.

BGEN member participation included Christine Newton, (RBG Kew) presenting the UK’s contribution to Target14 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, a workshop by Julia Willison (BGCI) on Education for Sustainable Development and a paper presentation by Sarah Kneebone (BGCI) on the current state of education in Botanic gardens (report available to download from the BCGI website).

The conclusion from the congress, including the current state of education in gardens, the gaps and the recommendations of how we can move botanic garden education forward at a global level, can be found on the BCGI website, along with the full programme, abstracts, daily reports, photos and plenary presentations. http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/congress/

Resources

• BGEN Resource Directory is avaliable from Ann Walford (bgen@kew.org)
  For only £10 plus £5.00 p&p
  
• Proceedings from the 6th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens
  Don’t miss out on the inspiration, ideas, resources and techniques discussed at the education congress. Make sure you get your copy of the proceedings,compelte with full papers, posters and workshop wirte-ups avaliable, for only £1.50, (to cover the cost of p&p) order through BGCI website http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/request_pub/ or education@bgci.org
  
• The following three resources are available from the Forestry Commission for those interested in or involved in play and can be found on their web site: http://fcnotes/england-play
  
• Growing Adventure
  This report sets out the activities, lessons, recommendations and outputs of Growing Adventure, a year-long project that aimed to develop the Forestry Commission’s activity around children and young people’s play and leisure. Central to the project are two connected ideas: that nature, adventure, challenge and even a little danger are part of the essence of woodland sites and make them ideal places for children to play, and that free play is a valuable developmental and learning process for children of all ages.
  
• Design guidance for play spaces
  This short guidance note sets out principles for development by directly considering the needs of users in space design. The Forestry Commission’s aim is to create naturalistic play spaces that encourage children to explore the natural environment and to take part in active play. The spaces should also provide the opportunity to create their own play environments and activities.
  
• Rope swings, tree houses, dens and fires
  This report presents a risk-based approach for managers facilitating self-built play structures and activities in woodland settings.
  
• Outside the Classroom Manifesto
  Every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances. To make this a reality, a Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto has been launched. The Manifesto acts as a shared statement of intent for all who see the benefits to young people and want to help bring about this vision of high quality, meaningful learning experiences for all.
  
• All who support the Manifesto's vision are invited to endorse and champion it by becoming a signatory, and to pledge any actions they are planning to take in support of the stated aims. Find out more about pledges and signatories and to see which organisations and individuals have already signed up, on the website http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/resourcematerials/outsideclassroom/
  Booklets availiable hardcopy from Ann Walford or by downloading from the website
  
• Action Research: Improving Learning through the Environment
  Edited by Adrian Clarke, Helen Parry and Clare Shorter
  A compilation of ideas for carrying out action research in order to improve learning through educational work in the environment.
  http://www.nafso.org.uk/publications/
  
• Plants for Primary Pupils
  In this series of booklets, SAPS presents activities to support the teaching of plants in the primary curriculum. The first topics available are ‘Parts of a flower and their functions’ and ‘Reproduction and life cycles’. Look out for part 3, ‘Living processes and what plants need to grow’ – coming soon. Available online at www.saps.org.uk
  
• Easy Access to Historic Landscapes - English Heritage
  These guidelines provide practical advice on how to increase or improve access to a site in an inclusive and integrated way. Produced by The Sensory Trust, a UK access charity, the guide introduces the principles of access, the process of creating an access plan and how to identify and solve access issues. Although some of the information specifically relates to UK legislation, most of the key concerns will be similar for any site. Case studies provide useful examples of improving access.
  Download the PDF from www.sensorytrust.org.uk/resources/EAHL.pdf
  Alternatively, hard copies are available for the cost of postage from BGCI. Contact education@bgci.org for your copy.
  
• Inspiring Learning for All
  Describes what an accessible and inclusive museum, archive, library or other site which stimulates and supports learning looks like.
  It invites you to:
  • Find out what the people that use your services learn
  • Assess how well you are achieving best practice in supporting learning
  • Improve what you do
  Learning is now high on local, regional and national agendas. Inspiring Learning for All will transform the way in which museums, archives and libraries deliver and engage users in learning.
  http://www.inspiringlearningforall.gov.uk/introduction/default.aspx

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