Exploring the Botanic Garden and Its Partners

Organizers: Co-organizers: Sponsors: Media partners: EDYCJA POLSKA welcome WELCOME We are honoured to welcome you to the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden for the 10th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens. Our small garden is situated within an ecological corridor in the city, which stretches along the banks of the Vistula, our country’s main and largely still wild river. This corridor is a unique wildlife niche in which survivors have found their refuge – representatives of disappearing and endangered plant species. Our Garden is a peaceful haven, which puts the Congress motto Bringing nature to the city into everyday practice. We meet at a special moment for our Botanic Garden. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of its founding. Our chosen motto Two Centuries Young reflects that botanic gardens do not get old. Age adds to their glow and over time they absorb the life energy of those dedicated to their upkeep, which they then share with all those who hold nature and conservation at heart. This is the common heritage of humanity. The University of Warsaw Botanic Garden is a special place in the city. Its history mir- rors that of the capital and the University, bound together in prosperity and demise. Overcoming hardship, it continues to draw strength from past success, and looks with hope to the future. The people meeting here today are so wild about nature, they have dedicated their lives to sharing their passion and engaging others. We hope that, during this week, we can work together to seek inspiration, share ideas and build determination and energy to work for the survival of nature, against all odds. This we wish for all Congress participants and for ourselves, University of Warsaw Botanic Garden Botanic Gardens Conservation International bringing nature to the city 3 table of contents About table of About BGCI 7 About The Congress 8 contents About UWBG 9 Venues 14 At a glance Congress timetable 17 Session formats 26 Congress themes 27 Programme Monday, 10.09 31 Tuesday, 11.09 56 Wednesday, 12.09 75 Thursday, 13.09 82 Friday, 14.09 103 Poster abstracts 108 Polish Days Czwartek, 13.09 157 Piątek, 14.09 167 Keynote Speakers 177 Events Welcome Party 183 Congress Dinner 185 Exploring The Botanic Garden and It’s Partners 187 Farewell BBQ 189 Tours Mid-Congress Tours 193 Post-Congress Tour 196 Warsaw Exploring Warsaw 201 Transportation 203 Dining 209 Acknowledgements 213 4 bringing nature to the city about bgci About BGCI Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a membership organisation, lin- king botanic gardens around the world in a shared commitment to save threatened plant species and raise awareness about the importance of plants. With approximately 500 member organisations, BGCI is the world’s largest plant conservation network. BGCI’s mission is ‘to mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet’. BGCI has played an essential role in the de- velopment and ultimate adoption of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which has changed the political face of plant conservation and transformed the way biodiversity targets are set at the international level. Networks supported by BGCI now exist in all regions of the world, bringing together botanic gardens with an astonishing wealth of knowledge and experience to share. BGCI runs a unique database of plant collections, which has documented over 115,000 species in cultivation in botanic gardens – one third of total known plant diversity. More than 10,000 of these species are under threat of extinction in the wild. BGCI’s highly regarded education programme has been running for over 20 years. Its activities focus on information sharing, knowledge transfer and capacity building for plant conservation and sustainability, working closely with research organisations to improve leaning and knowledge management. With its publication Roots and its triennial International Education Congresses, BGCI builds botanic gardens’ capacity in public engagement around the world. In recent years, BGCI’s education programme has been coordinating an innovative programme ‘BigPicnic: Big Questions – engaging the public with Responsible Research and Innovation on Food Security which brings botanic gardens together with the public, scientists, policy-makers and industry to help tackle the global challenge of food security. bringing nature to the city 7 aboutabout thethe congresscongress About the Congress Global estimates show that by the year 2050 almost ¾ of the human population will live in cities. This means that an increasing number of people will not have the opportunity to experience truly natural environments. With huge declines being observed in biodiversity worldwide, we therefore have to find new places for vanishing plants and animals to thrive, we have to bring nature to the city. Modern day botanic gardens play an important role in conserving biodiversity, but they also provide an essential link to the public, able to promote the importance of the protection and sustainable use of our natural resources. Botanic gardens can therefore act as a bridge between scientific knowledge and the role that society has to play in the protection of our planet. Through social education, botanic gardens can share with city dwellers the unique values of nature, the ways in which we can protect them and how we can utilise nature’s resources with care and respect. In many cities, alongside botanic gardens, there are a growing number of community gardens. These gardens form a new space to explore how we can live in big cities. Orga- nized by local communities, these areas are a way of experiencing nature and biodiversity and they serve as important educational centres for topics such as health and nutrition. Held in 2018, the 10th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens “Bringing nature to the city. Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden” will offer an opportunity for practitioners and theorists from around the world to discuss how we can effectively provide modern nature education, especially in a big city environment. It will also be an occasion to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden. 8 bringing nature to the city about uwbg About UWBG The University of Warsaw Botanic Garden was founded in 1818 by the renowned botanist, Professor Michał Szubert. The Garden initially occupied 22,5 hectares and was located in the former Royal Gardens in the northern part of Royal Łazienki Park. It had several greenhouses including the Old Orangery. The Garden’s founder divided it into three parts: the first for research, devoted to plant systematics; the second for pomology, where a collection of fruit trees was established to educate future gardeners; and finally a leisure garden for public use. The Index Plantarum was published in 1824 and included over 10,000 species and varieties found in the Garden, among them around 1000 representatives of Polish flora. Unfortunately, following the November Insurrection in 1831, expansion of the Garden was halted; its area was reduced by two thirds and for many years all managerial posts were held by tsarist officials. In 1916 the Garden once again became a part of the re-established University of Warsaw and soon regained its former scientific and educational glory. The Second World War dealt another significant blow to the Garden. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 all its buildings and greenhouses were destroyed and the park became a cemetery for the once rich plant collections. Nevertheless, after the war the Garden was rebuilt with renewed hope and great enthusiasm. All the buildings and greenhouses were quickly rebuilt in the post-war years and work began to reconstruct the collections. In 1965, the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden was listed as a heritage site. However throughout the 1980’s the Garden suffered from a lack of funding and experienced a period of steady decline until the appointment of a new director, Dr Hanna Werblan-Jakubiec. Thanks to her enthusiasm, many new pro- jects were launched. bringing nature to the city 9 about uwbg The Garden’s activities are now focused on its most important function, namely the protection of plant biodiversity. To this end, new fields of research have been developed, including plant reproductive biology and ethnobotany. We combine classical field expe- riments and observations with modern laboratory techniques (molecular phylogenetics, electron and confocal microscopy, chromatography, etc.) to explore the diversity of plants’ pollination systems and breeding strategies. Furthermore, the Garden has been conti- nuously expanding its educational programmes: from simple information boards and educational trails to developing inquiry-based workshops. We will soon be opening a new Education Centre. In recognition of the Garden’s expanding educational work, we are hosting BGCI’s 10th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens. Our resources can also be accessed on the Internet. The most prominent is FLORATHECA, a database with thousands of botanical illustrations from our archives, all of which are open to the public. These include 19th and 20th century photographs, graphics, drawings and press cuttings that have been digitalised and described by art historians and biologists. Today, the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden is a department of the Faculty of Biology. It is one of the oldest and the smallest institutions of its kind in Poland, and is firmly established in the heart of the capital. Combining plant conservation, research and education in a vigorously developing institution with a 200-year history, we work with all nature lovers for a better future for both people and plants. 10 bringing nature to the city The Missouri Botanical Garden congratulates the University of Warsaw Botanic Garden on its celebration of its 200th anniversary, and BGCI on the organization of the 10th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens.

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