By Victoria Stone-Meadows
The Royal Botanical Gardens Cranbourne will take centre stage in June when its executive director Chris Russell speaks at an international congress in Geneva, Switzerland.
This will be the third time Mr Russell has spoken at an international conference about the Cranbourne Gardens and the importance of botanical gardens in general.
This year the sixth annual world botanic garden congress will host over 200 representatives of more than 500 botanical gardens from 100 countries around the globe.
Mr Russell will be speaking of the importance of plants and gardens in the urban landscape the roles gardens play in the healthy development of suburbs and their residents.
“My talk explores the roles of the Cranbourne Gardens in urban greening and will be showing the fundamental importance of plants within an urban landscape,” he said.
“Plants make for healthy communities; it is all about the air we breathe, clean water, green spaces for recreation, and the spiritual connection to the land we live on.”
“Cities with more greenery are healthier places to live, so I will be demonstrating that that is the role of Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria and in particular the Cranbourne Gardens in a local context.”
The annual world botanic gardens congress allows for botanical gardens from all over the world to share ideas and information as well as strengthening the bond and commitment gardens have to their communities.
Mr Russell said presenting at the congress gave the rest of the world a chance to gain an understanding of how botanical gardens in Australia were managed and curated.
“It is really critical for us to be active players on a world stage,” Mr Russell said.
“Botanical gardens in Australia are at the leading edge of contemporary garden management.”
“Not only in terms of the topics we cover but in managing our collections but also dealing in responses to climate change.”
The congress runs in Geneva from 24 to 29 June, with the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens taking centre stage for Mr Russell’s talk “From backyards to biolinks: the role of RBG Victoria in urban greening” on Thursday 29 June.
