Update from BCARM

Sheree Parker, Chair BCARM, and Supervisor, Geelong Botanic Gardens

The Living Collections Toolkit has been a major project for BCARM this year, in collaboration with BGANZ Victoria. The aim of the Living Collections Toolkit is to support regional botanic gardens to better manage their living collections through an online/interactive resource hosted on the BGANZ website. Andrea Proctor Landscapes, Anthouse Design and Makeweb have been involved in bringing this concept to fruition, based on the older version of the BGANZ Living Collections Toolkit. This project is in the final stages of completion, with the next stages involving beta testing and an initial roll-out to Victorian members with workshops and media. In 2024, we will continue with a living collections workshop/review of the tool kit and look at adjustments and add-ons. Initially available to Victorian members, the toolkit will later be released to all members.

The Hortis database has been successfully rolled out to 22 Victorian gardens in the past 12 months. Tex Moon has established a quarterly workshop for Hortis users to chat and discuss issues, solutions and how they are tracking with data entry of their living collections. The database will greatly enhance the accuracy of collections across the state and has the potential to extend to all gardens.

For further information on either of these projects, please email Sheree at SParker2@geelongcity.vic.gov.au