08-06-2025
Global botanic gardens meeting kicks off in Seoul
Starting Monday, the 11th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens will be taking place at Seoul's Coex for five days.
Themed 'Education for Change: The Role of Botanic Gardens in Addressing Global Challenges,' over 1,600 participants comprising practitioners, curators, academics, researchers and teachers from some 51 countries have gathered for the event, which takes place every two to four years.
"With the accelerating dual crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, it is more critical than ever to collaborate and explore how education for sustainable development, led by botanic gardens, can address these pressing global issues," said Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the co-organizer hosting the event with the state-run Korea National Arboretum.
It is the second time the meeting is held in an Asian country after India, which hosted the assembly in 1999. The first meeting took place in the Netherlands in 1991.
BGCI, an England-based plant conservation charity run by some 900 botanic gardens from 115 countries, said this year's meeting is the largest attended by over 1,600 guests. The five-day meeting will host 64 sessions, 45 workshops and 140 lectures.
A statement will be released after the discussions, highlighting what the international community could improve to promote global cooperation on plant diversity, according to BGCI.
A music concert will take place on the last day of the assembly at the National Demilitarized Zone Native Botanic Garden in Yanggu, Gangwon Province.
