Welcome to the congress website for BGCI's 7th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens.  The title of our 2009 congress is ‘Action Learning: places, spaces and partnerships for biodiversity and human wellbeing’ which encapsulates the dynamic and relevant role of botanic gardens today. In just 20 years botanic gardens have moved from being passive deliverers of information to leading institutions for plant-based education. Programmes are infotrmative, innovative and fun, inspiring children and adults alike to connect with plants and make changes to their lives for conservation and sustainability.

Botanic gardens reach over 200 million visitors a year which, by anyone’s standards, is an impressive size audience. However, with the world population now over 6.7 billion people and growing, the reality is that botanic gardens reach just a fraction of people with their messages. The pressures on the environment are also mounting day by day and plants are literally under siege. We urgently need to build new partnerships at every level and scale up our efforts. As scientific institutions, we know the dangers facing humanity if we continue to lose plant diversity at the current rate.

This congress will be about how we effectively communicate this to the public through our education and public awareness programmes in a way that empowers rather than disempowers people to take action.  There will be key note speakers to set the scened and delegates will be presenting papers and workshops.  On the Wednesday of the congress we will be spending the day at Durban Botanic Garden where delegates will be invited to participate in hands-on interpretative activities.  We have also put together an exciting schedule of day, pre and post congress tours for those delegates who want to explore South Africa a little more.  Please take some time to explore the website and we look forward to welcoming you to Durban.