Professional Networks: News from BGEN

Paul Swift, Education and Partnership Specialist, Auckland Botanic Gardens, New Zealand, Convenor of BGEN

As the new Convener for the Botanic Gardens Engagement Network (BGEN) it is my privilege to help shape BGEN’s plans for 2023 and beyond alongside the rest of the Committee.

I have transitioned from working purely with visiting school groups, then exhibition development and adult learning, to a role at Auckland Botanic Gardens that encompasses interpretation, partnerships, public engagement and volunteer co-ordination. I think that this breadth of work aligns extremely well with how BGEN can continue to develop.

Our members are often required to be adaptive, creative and flexible in the tasks that they undertake. The value of BGEN going forward will be to build upon the excellent work of our predecessors so that we can share expertise, offer support and provide relevant professional development across these broad areas of work encapsulated in the term ‘engagement’.

BGEN will be a hub for sharing innovative practices, research, evaluation, as well as facilitating collaboration between botanic gardens and other cultural organisations within the wider GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) sector. We often share the same visitors with these institutions and interestingly we often share the same staff too; so it makes perfect sense to work smartly and make sure that we keep connected with other similar professional bodies.

Many of our members are viewed as the ‘teachers’ or the people that work with the visiting school groups, however, our range of engagement is often much wider than this particular (and of course vastly important) section of our visitors.

Providing opportunities for engagement with plants and the natural environment for informal learners who are just taking their daily stroll or dog walking route through the gardens is a challenge that I am personally keen to explore. We know that many of our visitors are not actually here to find out specific details about a particular tree or flower – they are here because it is also a beautiful place to visit with family and friends or just to have some quiet time away from their busy lives. Our challenge is to engage with these visitors too – to encourage them to stop, to take notice, to cherish and hopefully begin to understand the world around them and to begin to value connections with nature that result in positive actions at both a personal and societal level.

If you are interested in becoming a BGEN member or perhaps even joining the BGEN Committee, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Paul.Swift@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.

Engagement specialists connecting at RBGV Melbourne Gardens during the 7th Global Botanic Gardens Congress.

Credit: Emily Seif.