Articles
A BOTANIC GARDEN EDUCATION NETWORK
Some larger gardens may have one or several education staff.
For many smaller gardens and arboreta, education is just one of many responsibilities of the curator.
The Botanic Garden Education Network (BGEN) exists to help develop the educational potential of all gardens and arboreta and to facilitate the exchange of information between people involved in education, interpretation and public relations.
The Green Inheritance education pack provides an example of a resource developed by BGEN (jointly with the Worldwide Fund for Nature) for use with 8 to 12 year-olds in any garden.
It encourages active learning and puts equal emphasis on classroom and garden based activities because experience has shown that preparative and follow-up work greatly enhance the experience of a school visit to a garden.
The value of botanic gardens as a learning resource is not limited to schools and colleges.
The current interest in gardening, nature and green issues has inspired many exciting and innovative projects for families and adults.
A key to the success of many recent educational initiatives in gardens has been co-operation within gardens, between gardens and with other environmental organisations.