The Botanicum: New options for science education and public outreach at the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna

Autor(en)

Michael Kiehn, David Bröderbauer, Martin Rose, Frank Schumacher, Nadja Rauchberger, Birgit Schlag-Edler

Abstrakt

The Green School Program at the Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna has been established more than 25 years ago. From the beginning onwards the program was developed with the intention to combine the potentials,
options and needs of university education for biologists and future biology teachers with the demands for educative activities at the garden.
The present paper describes the history, the rationales and the ideas behind the development of different kinds of activities of this program and its interactions with a diversity of target audiences in an academic and non-academic
context. It also refers to scientific research projects incl. bachelor-, master-, diploma- and PhD-theses connected with them. In addition, options for future developments opening up now because of the construction of the Botanicum,
a building especially devoted to the program, are presented. This building will, for the first time, allow to offer public outreach and education activities the whole year around. The processes of and the ideas behind the development of the program to be relaunched now are also laid out. This program will focus on three target groups: (1) children and school classes, (2) (future) teachers and educators, and (3) the general public. It also will continue to explore synergies with teachers´ and scientists´ education at the university in accord with the relevant curricula. The new program will, in part, be developed in consultation and collaboration with other stakeholders. Scientific evaluation of the program will continue, aiming at getting better insights into backgrounds, demands, needs and interests of different types of visitor groups of the garden. These studies shall increase the general knowledge about successful incentives for different target groups in creating an “environment of curiosity and interest” in a
“natural laboratory”, and shall help to further optimize the education and outreach programs, approaches and tools.

Organisation(en)

Department für Botanik und Biodiversitätsforschung, Core Facility Botanischer Garten, Veranstaltungsmanagement

Externe Organisation(en)

Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck

Seiten

139-144

Publikationsdatum

2020

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

106008 Botanik, 503013 Fachdidaktik Naturwissenschaften

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/the-botanicum-new-options-for-science-education-and-public-outreach-at-the-botanical-garden-of-the-university-of-vienna(0ae94ba3-57cb-4d42-8ed5-355b70a54eda).html