The urban challenge for Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Dr Tim Upson, Curator & Acting Director, Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Cultivating nature and nurturing eco-citizenry in urban botanic gardens
Dr Katja Neves, Concordia University, Montreal
Taking the garden beyond the gate: sharing our botanical skills in our towns and cities
Pamela Smith, Botanical Heritage Consultant
Creating community hubs through urban food
Philip Turvil, Master Gardener Programme Manager, Garden Organic
Participation and collaboration: engaging with under-represented audiences
Chandan Mahal, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Edible Gardening Project
Based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and aims to teach people the skills and knowledge they need to grow their own food
@EdibleGarden1
Twitter link to @EdibleGarden1, a project based at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, helping people to grow their own vegetables. Support received from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Growing the Social Role of Botanic Gardens – video
BGCI supports and encourages the commitment of botanic gardens to work with their local communities on common issues of social and environmental importance, for the enduring benefit of those communities, the gardens themselves, and towards a sustainable future for our planet.
Bristol Community Plant Collection – video
Working with nine diverse community groups, Bristol Zoo Gardens set up the first ever community plant collection. The community groups were trained to grow, maintain and harvest Calendula species in their allotments, schools, care home and residential centre. All groups contributed 10 Calendula plants to BZG who created a public display in the gardens.
Seeds of Change: A Floating Ballast Seed Garden
A permanent Ballast Seed Garden on Bristol’s Floating Harbour, populated with a variety of non-native plants, creating a living history of the city’s trade and maritime past.
Seeds of Change: A Floating Ballast Seed Garden – video
Video of the Ballast Seed Garden on Bristol’s Floating Harbour, populated with a variety of non-native plants, creating a living history of the city’s trade and maritime past.
Matt Davies’ Ballast seed sounds
The secret sounds of plants from the Ballast Seed Garden. Hear clicks, gurgles and more unusual noises as they respond to light and water recorded by sound artist Matt Davies.
Cambridge Council Sustainable drainage systems (Suds)
Cambridge Council’s sustainable drainage information and ‘Design and Adoption Guide’
RSPB Sustainable Drainage Systems
RSPB guide for developers and local authorities on making sustainable drainage systems that benefit local wildlife
i-Tree
Tools for assessing and managing community forests, providing urban forestry analysis and benefit assessment tools
The Trees and Design Action Group (TDAG)
TDAG brings together a pioneering group of individuals, professionals and organisations from wide ranging disciples in both the public and private sectors to increase awareness of the role of trees in the built environment.
Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment
MENE captures information on all visits to the natural environment, including visits to local informal green space, undertaken by TNS for Natural England, Defra and the Forestry Commission
Urban Pollinators Project
The Urban Pollinators project is researching insect pollinators in urban habitats in the UK. The project is funded under the UK Insect Pollinators Initiative and runs from 2011 until 2014. The project is led by the University of Bristol, with academic partners at the University of Reading, University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh.
Green spaces boosts wellbeing of urban dwellers – study
Parks, gardens and green space in urban areas can improve the wellbeing and quality of life of people living there, says a University of Exeter study.