Strategic Plans 2002-2005

Strategic Plans 2002-2005

FOREWORD

PlantNet is a young organisation and much has already been achieved in getting it ‘up-and-running’. Its main purpose is to increase networking amongst staff in scientifically based plant collections and in so doing raise standards. We believe that the benefits derived from these collections are to the long-term advantage of society at large. Now that PlantNet has been established, it would be all too easy to fall into a pattern of simply delivering three newsletters and two conferences per year, good though these are. Nothing, however, renders organisations redundant faster than complacency; so, soon after consolidating our existence, the Board decided to publish a Strategy Plan for continued development. This Plan presents a number of policy statements which we believe most PlantNet members should strive towards achieving. Following these statements of policy, we have made suggestions on how PlantNet might help members deliver the policies. Some tasks, such as organising a conference to discuss a certain topic, are very specific, others are more general in nature.

This Strategy Plan is aimed at two audiences. We hope that PlantNet members will use it to guide the development of their own collections. However, it is also aimed at those outside PlantNet to give them a clearer understanding of what PlantNet stands for and hopes to achieve.

The PlantNet Board of Directors will also use this Strategy Plan to guide their actions during the next 3 years. At the end of each year, the Board will review how much progress has been achieved.

I would like to thank the Board and PlantNet members for their help in compiling this important Strategy Plan.

Dr David Rae
PlantNet Chairman
Director of Horticulture
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
March 2002

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Strategy Plan is to describe the policies, plans and activities that PlantNet intends to implement within 2002–2005. Wherever possible, we have shown how we will achieve these objectives, and in some cases targets have been set.

Crucial to the Plan’s success is growth in membership and obtaining external funding to put in place the necessary resources for projects and paid staff to carry them out.

The Strategy Plan will be continuously monitored and reviewed by the Board of Directors and by PlantNet members at every AGM.

The first part of the Strategy relates to PlantNet’s own administrative entity and sets goals and objectives for membership, capacity, training, publications and advice. In the second part, policy statements are presented on a number of topics relevant to the management of plant collections. These are intended to demonstrate PlantNet’s commitment to fulfilling its aims and objectives and to show how PlantNet plans to help those who manage botanical, documented or scientifically based plant collections (hereafter simply referred to as documented collections) to raise their standards to meet these objectives.

CHARITABLE PURPOSE

PlantNet: The Plant Collections Network of Britain and Ireland is a private company limited by guarantee, registered in England 3777793; and a registered charity 1081747.

The objectives of the charity are to:

advance the education of the public in horticulture and related subjects with particular reference to the study and appreciation of plant collections and their management and conservation
promote, for the public benefit, the general preservation and conservation of plant collections of importance, beauty or historical or scientific interest.

PlantNet aims to:

promote documented botanical collections in Britain and Ireland as a national resource for research, conservation and education
facilitate networking among holders of plant collections through a programme of conferences, focus groups and training workshops and a regular newsletter.

PLANTNET DEVELOPMENT

Membership

There are currently (March 2002) 154 members of PlantNet, which comprises 82 institutional members and 72 personal members. Most botanic gardens in Britain and Ireland are already members and enthusiastically support PlantNet’s objectives. However, there is scope for persuading the remaining few to join and for increasing the total number of institutional and personal members so that PlantNet can develop and achieve important objectives for standards, best practice and co-ordination of collections’ policies. In this way PlantNet can be a major advocate for plant collections, representing their concerns and interests in national and international forums.

There is also a need to reach and include in personal membership more staff at member gardens (as well as associated students, trustees and Friends’ groups) to encourage and stimulate their interest in, and contribution to, PlantNet’s objectives. This is being achieved by introducing a special low rate of subscription, with the specific aim of encouraging personal membership for staff in institutions that are already members. We know that many staff in member gardens do not see the newsletters and notices of meetings and know little of PlantNet’s activities and aspirations. We have recently introduced a new, very affordable, subscription rate that we hope will appeal to these staff and encourage them to join. Staff in some gardens and organisations have already been invited to join. The remainder will be invited to do so.

A measure of PlantNet’s success can be seen in the degree of involvement within the organisations and individuals that it identifies as its market. PlantNet has never been envisaged as a mass-membership organisation, though anyone espousing its aims and objectives is welcome to join. The market, in terms of institutional membership, is a small one, and it is possible to make a reasonable estimate of its size at about a maximum of 220 and a target for membership is proposed on this basis. However, further work is required to assess the potential size and take-up of membership for personal subscriptions.

To achieve this aim, PlantNet will seek to increase its membership by:

increasing the number of institutional members to 85 by July 2002, rising to 100 by the AGM of 2005
further developing the newly introduced category of membership for staff, trustees, students and Friends’ groups in institutions that are already members (alongside the existing provision for personal members not in a member institution) – the aim will be to attract 80 such personal members by July 2002, rising to 120 by 2005.

Capacity

PlantNet must plan for its staffing needs if it is to be successful in:

developing and extending services to members
organising workshops and conferences
monitoring, interpreting and updating policies, procedures, guidelines and codes of practice
introducing new policies
developing internal and external networking opportunities
raising funding for projects
promoting documented plant collections as a national and international resource.

Although in the short term we can increase the hours of our part-time Administrator incrementally, we must look beyond that to achieve real progress.

The Administrator now works for double the number of hours that she did prior to 2001. PlantNet’s immediate aim is to consolidate this but if we aim to achieve even a small part of this Strategy Plan we must plan on securing the early establishment of a full-time Administrator post (by the end of 2004). The remit could then be expanded to develop more fully membership services, publications, data and survey information, networking, and support to the Board of Directors. A mid-term plan should be to support this post with a part-time word-processing and clerical assistant as funds permit, hopefully by 2006.

When adequate funding is achieved, the long-term objective (provisionally set at 2010) is to appoint a Director (possibly on a part-time basis initially) to lead PlantNet’s staff. The Director’s remit will be to develop policy statements, guidelines and procedures, support the Board of Directors and raise funds for all projects and staffing. While this should remain our goal, it is unlikely that sufficient funds will be in place even by the end of 2005 to fund this post.

The establishment of both the full-time Administrator post and later the Director post will require external fund-raising to support them. In the meantime, with the prudent use of short-term contracts, additional staff can be appointed when specific project funding becomes available.

In summary, PlantNet will seek to establish the:

full-time Administrator post by summer 2004
part-time Clerical Assistant post by 2006
Director post by spring 2010.

Funding and resources

PlantNet has two main sources of income: subscriptions from its institutional and personal members; and project or general grants from external funding bodies.

To avoid exclusion from membership on financial grounds, we are determined to keep subscriptions at the lowest reasonable rates. The planned growth in membership is driven by the desire to reach and involve many more people working with documented plant collections and thus to share our policy aims and objectives as widely as we can. Although subscription income will increase as a result, it will never be more than a part of core income.

To carry out important project work and to pay for the appointment of staff, there will be a regular need to seek grant funding from external trusts and other bodies. Considerable success has been achieved in the past 2 years and the fact that we have attained charitable status for PlantNet means that we are now eligible to apply to trusts that restrict themselves to funding charities only.

PlantNet will produce an annual budget so as to administer itself in an ordered and responsible manner. This budget will clearly show anticipated income and planned expenditure under a series of headings. PlantNet also plans to cost the recommendations given in the Strategy Plan and make suggestions about how they can be funded.

Income from subscriptions pays for less than half of PlantNet’s expenses and so additional funds are constantly required to provide membership services and fulfil our aims and objectives. A Development Subcommittee was established in 1999 to find further funds and it has had a measure of success to date, but further efforts are urgently required to secure the additional funding needed. It should be noted that conferences are regarded as educational and for training and networking, but whenever possible the aim is also to make a modest profit.

Conferences and training

PlantNet aims to bring together members undertaking similar tasks in a wide range of collections for training, discussion and specialised workshops, with an emphasis on best practice. In addition, the experience of those carrying out similar work in other disciplines will be sought, and co-operation and collaboration with other organisations will be encouraged. PlantNet’s conferences twice a year have already become a major platform for presenting and discussing important topics of interest, and these will continue. The Board is always keen to hear of potential topics from members and the following have been suggested recently:

uses of plant collections for scientific research
research into the public understanding of science through living-plant collections
cultivation and maintenance of plants in living collections
collections’ policies
organisation and use of volunteers in maintaining plant collections and associated activities
guided tours
design of guidebooks, posters and leaflets
labelling
design of plant collections
management of plant genetic resources
education and training.

PlantNet’s special-interest groups (Plant Records Group, Tree Forum and Glasshouse Forum) have been established to provide practical hands-on experience and direct discussion. Each group meets about twice a year and their existence makes a direct and valued contribution to PlantNet’s training remit.

Recently, PlantNet has managed to secure a small grant to establish a series of Technical Training Days aimed at staff below supervisor level. These days offer specialised hands-on training on practical subjects. To date, topics have included the cultivation of alpines, glasshouse cultivation, the use of peat-free media, orchid cultivation and germination techniques. Thanks to the grant, costs have been kept very low and we hope to be able to continue this programme. Dates and topics will be published in the PlantNet Newsletter as they are developed.

PlantNet believes that great benefit can be acquired from staff exchanges and hopes to implement a staff-exchange scheme between member institutions as soon as funding is obtained.

Publications

PlantNet will continue to publish regular newsletters for members. Special publications on particular topics will be produced when funding is available. The first hard-copy version of the PlantNet Directory of Botanical Collections in Britain and Ireland was published in 1999; updated editions and a web version are planned for the future. In addition, PlantNet plans to launch its own website within the period covered by this Plan. There are also plans in hand to publish short accounts and/or resource packs after our major conferences within the next year. To date, this has not been possible because of lack of resources. Publications will be distributed to members and used to promote awareness of the importance of plant collections in Britain and Ireland to a wider audience.

Advice

PlantNet aims to act as a resource centre, through the Administrator, assembling information on the expertise of members and external contacts elsewhere. Advice, documentation and whom to contact for further information, within PlantNet and elsewhere, will be compiled both for members of PlantNet and for others seeking information about plant collections in Britain and Ireland. Focus groups on trees, plant records and glasshouses have been set up within PlantNet and will facilitate the exchange of information and advice on these topics within the membership. The launch of other focus groups will be encouraged if sufficient members feel the need for such groups.

Data and membership surveys

Members of PlantNet hold data on many aspects of the management of plant collections. Data on plant collections have already been surveyed and used to compile a database: the PlantNet Directory of Botanical Collections in Britain and Ireland. It will also be helpful to gather information on, for instance, the numbers and types of staff employed in the management of plant collections, the number of visitors to plant collections each year, seasonal patterns of visiting, the range of events organised and types of publication produced and scientific, research and conservation activities. Such information and data from members will be

collated and used as the basis for planning publicity, training and collaborative ventures, sometimes in association with other organisations. In this way, plant collections in Britain and Ireland can be promoted as a collective, national resource, in different contexts.

POLICIES

To support PlantNet’s principal aims and objectives, brief policy statements have been developed in consultation with members. They will require further development and amendment from time to time, and the Board of Directors will monitor them continuously and subject them, and the whole of the Strategy Plan, to the scrutiny of members at every AGM.

The 2002-2005 policies are: