President’s view Dale Arvidsson, BGANZ President
Increasing economic rationalisation, proving our relevance in the face of proposed cuts and changes of government on many levels has led many botanic gardens and arboreta down the crucial path of reviewing their living collections to find further efficiencies and to justify who is managing their collections and
Dale Arvidsson, BGANZ President
why they exist. As stated in the BGANZ Collections Planning Toolkit ‘Plant collections are the essential and defining feature of any botanic garden’ and we should question why we have in our collections ‘what we do’ as every collection, every plant counts towards our core reason for being. In the case of younger gardens and arboreta – theming and interpretation is at the very heart of modern design intent. For older gardens, it can be a challenge that leads to necessary review. Developing a team, undertaking a review, developing and – even more challenging – implementing a living collections policy/plan including a timetable of further review, are all tasks that if we haven’t already commenced, we should now find time for. Developing a symbiotic interpretation plan of our living collections gets across our key messages and the reason for having each collection. What do you want to tell visitors about what they see? What message do you want them to walk away with? Today, more than ever, thematic planning and concise and engaging interpretation is so important for communication. In order to be relevant to a technology savvy, time poor and broader audience than we are historically used to, we all need to understand that the people who work with our visitors are often at the cutting edge of understanding current trends and themes. This keeps our collections accessible to the public and ultimately their importance is communicated to everyone both up and down the management line. Read on for what our member botanic gardens and arboreta have contributed to this edition of THE BOTANIC GARDENer. From Canberra, Hobart, Eurobodalla and Bendigo – as well as other news and international contributions – you’ll discover fresh and innovative ideas that may assist your own journey as another busy year races to a close.
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the botanic gardener | ISS 40 November 2014