Aligning to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Assessing Contributions of UBC Botanical Garden

Abstract

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlines 17 goals for the wellbeing of people and the planet. The purpose of this study was to understand how University of British Columbia Botanical Garden (UBCBG) contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) and to identify opportunities for future action. To address this, we worked across departments to assess our programs and activities against the UN-SDG 17 goals and 169 targets. The UN-SDG indicators were only used to identify potential metrics that could be consider for future tracking. The main activities of UBCBG include ex situ plant conservation, sustainability education and community engagement. Our results found that UBCBG contributes to 12 of the 17 goals and 24 of the 169 targets. The two UN-SDGs with more targets aligned to UBCBG’s activities were Goal 15—Life on Land and Goal 12—Responsible Consumption and Production. Through its partnerships with other botanical gardens, research institutions and the regional government, the Garden amplifies its work at a global, national and regional level. We are re-imagining the role of botanical gardens in an age of equity, decolonization, the biodiversity crisis and the climate emergency. Since the UN-SDGs address both nature and people, they are an appropriate framework to guide our work.

Frühkindliche Bildung im Botanischen Garten der Universität Leipzig

“…Botanische Gärten als Bildungsorte können heute sehr vielfältige Lernwelten sein, die mit ganz unterschiedlichen Angeboten und Bildungsformen (formell, non-formell, informell) genau passende Angebote für den lebenslang lernenden Menschen anbieten. Auch werden Botanische Gärten und ihre Aktivitäten schon heute im Zeitalter der Gleichberechtigung, der Entkolonialisierung, der Biodiversitätskrise und des Klimawandels neu bewertet und ihr Beitrag zur Umsetzung der Agenda 2030 und den 17 Nachhaltigkeitszielen gemessen [5]. In Deutschland sollen Botanische Gärten Leuchttürme der Biodiversitätsbildung werden [6] und setzten sich damit gemeinsam mit ihren Dachorganisationen, wie z.…”

Spatiotemporal development of national botanic gardens worldwide and their contributions to plant diversity conservation from 1593 to 2023

“…The ecosystem services of national botanic gardens are aligned with the UN SDGs. The primary roles of national botanic gardens are intimately associated with the SDGs that are related to plant conservation, climate action, public education, and sustainable development (Lopez-Villalobos et al, 2022). Life on land (SDG 15) is the most relevant goal linking the conservation role of national botanic gardens.…”

“…National botanic gardens possess abundant living plant collections, seed banks, or germplasm resources that provide a great platform to conserve rare, threatened, and endangered plant species and to study their response and adaptation to global change (Johnson et al, 2017). In addition, sustainability education aligned with the UN SDGs provides botanic gardens a rich platform to showcase their expertise in horticulture, plant science, and public awareness of plant diversity (Lopez-Villalobos et al, 2022;Ren and Blackmore, 2023). National botanic gardens also provide expertise and disseminate knowledge on the ex situ protection and scientific research of plants (Dunn, 2017).…”

“…National botanic gardens also provide expertise and disseminate knowledge on the ex situ protection and scientific research of plants (Dunn, 2017). The disseminated activities include science popularization exhibitions, live lectures, and online science popularization about the roles of national botanic gardens in plant biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation, which are highly accepted by the public (Lopez-Villalobos et al, 2022).…”

“…National botanic gardens can not only collect and conserve plant diversity but also play a special role in investigating the response and adaptation of plants to climate change (Ali and Trivedi, 2011;Primack et al, 2021). With the development of the national botanic garden, its public roles have expanded to that of cultural institutions for plant species conservation, formal and informal education, scientific research, and popular entertainment (Faraji and Karimi, 2022;Lopez-Villalobos et al, 2022). However, the development stage and plant diversity conservation capacity of national botanic gardens have rarely been explored from a global perspective in previous studies.…”