Professional Development

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria provides an extensive range of professional development opportunities for teachers at all levels, all year round.

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria partners with leading industry experts to provide an ever-increasing range of professional development opportunities for educators across the year. Check out the opportunities currently planned for 2021 below. To stay up to date with our future learning opportunities for your students, sign up to our Learning eNews here.

Upcoming Professional Development opportunities in 2021

Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Network’s annual Conference

Friday the 26th and Saturday the 27th March 2021
Online, Melbourne and Cranbourne Gardens
Book here

The annual ECOLN Pedagogy & Practice in Nature Education Conference will run for the fifth time across March 26-27, 2021. The conference presents the latest in nature-based education research and practice and is a must for any educators wanting to maximise the benefits of outdoor learning.

The conference will be held online on Friday the 26th of March, with the option to attend a workshop in person at either the Melbourne or Cranbourne gardens on Saturday the 27th of March.

Click here to find out more information, topics and guest speakers.

Cost:

Friday online sessions only: $40
Friday online sessions plus Saturday Melbourne or Cranbourne workshops: $120

Bookings:

Online

2021 Bush Kinder Orientation

Wednesday, 31 March 2021, 9.30am – 3.30pm
Cranbourne Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne is a highly valued Bush Kinder venue with many local organisations using the space on a regular basis. This professional development program is specially designed to orientate educators on how to best utilise the Cranbourne Botanic Gardens site and it is recommended that organisations complete it annually.

Organisations will receive a ‘Royal Botanic Gardens Bush Kinder Ready Certificate’ on completion.

Program will include:

Setting up a Bush Kinder Program and working with landowners and parks
Round table discussions exploring nature play – theory and pedagogy
Storytelling and song and dance experiences to understand how to embed indigenous perspectives and connect children to country
A guided walk with Learning facilitators to familiarise staff with Cranbourne Botanic Gardens bush kinder site
Presentation of Certificate on completion

Cost:

$50.00 per person. Payment is via invoice

Bookings:

Email edserv@rbg.vic.gov.au

Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Network’s Training Package

Training Package 1
Monday 15th and Friday 19th March 2021
Melbourne Gardens

Training Package 2
Tuesday 11th and Tuesday 25th May 2021
Cranbourne Gardens

Training Package 3
Monday 26th July and Monday 9th August 2021
Melbourne Gardens

This training has been designed to assist teachers and educators who are interested in taking children into nature or who are looking for support to strengthen their existing programs. Presented by leaders and pioneers in the field of Australian early childhood nature programs - Doug Fargher, Lisa Coxon and Karen Anderson - the program is held over 3 sessions, including a site visit to a nature kindergarten in action.

Program Outline

Day One Outline (held at either the Melbourne or Cranbourne Gardens) – Introduction
Introduction to nature kindergarten including discussion of:

How nature programs align with the NQF, VEYLDF and EYLF
How Children Services Regulations can be adhered to
The role of philosophy and pedagogy
Practical considerations for developing an offsite program

Day Two Outline – Site Visit. Visit a nature kindergarten program in action. Choose one of three visits:

Westgarth Bush Kinder - Doug - Wednesday
Minimbah Creek - Lisa - Thursday
Balnarring Living & Learning with Nature program - Karen

Day Three Outline (held at either the Melbourne or Cranbourne Gardens) – Get down to work
A session for planning and writing, tailored to your needs and your service.

Reflect on site visits
Step through benefit/risk assessment development
Work through our template to guide individual program development

Cost and Bookings:

Online

Science

Conservation

Victoria's flora and fungi are under increasing threat from climate change, environmental weeds, agriculture, forest clearance and urbanisation. Climate change will especially impact on plants restricted to the coldest environments on mountain summits, which are likely to lose their only suitable habitat. At Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, studies of taxonomy, distribution, population genetics, propagation, translocation and seed banking all contribute to the conservation of Victoria’s and Australia's plants and fungi.

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Seedbank

We collect millions of high-quality seeds from native plant species within Victoria for long-term storage, research and restoration programs.

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Conservation

Our scientists work to maintain biological diversity, including genetic variation, essential for functional ecosystems and the long-term viability of species.

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Weeds and biosecurity

Our research helps to identify, document and combat environmental weeds that pose a threat to native ecosystems and biodiversity.

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Protecting our rare and threatened species

In Victoria, there are nearly 700 native species of threatened plants (among the approximately 3,200 species recorded from the state) along with many others that are rare. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria plays a leading role in programs to conserve these endangered species in order to stabilise or increase populations in their natural habitat. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is particularly involved in the conservation of native terrestrial orchids. Victoria is a 'hotspot' for orchid diversity, with 23 per cent of Australia's orchid species occurring in just 3 per cent of the land area. Most of the native orchid species found in Victoria are terrestrial, and at least a third occur nowhere else.

Horticulture

Plant Collections

Botanic gardens throughout the world play a significant role in helping scientists and the public understand the evolution and history of plants, their present day uses as well as what the future may hold for plants in natural environments. Across our two locations at Melbourne and Cranbourne, our experienced horticulture teams manage 45 plant collections as well as a significant area of precious bushland at Cranbourne Gardens. All of our collections feature plant labels which show each plant's scientific name comprised of a genus and species.

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Sustainable Management

Our horticultural and environmental research is focused on responding to future challenges such as water availability and changing climatic conditions and looking at how these may impact on plant and landscape conservation within the gardens.

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Environmental Management

At both Cranbourne and Melbourne our land management teams focus on irrigation management, finding alternate water sources, water quality and biodiversity of the lakes system; reducing weeds, protecting plants against pests and diseases and managing soils.

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Water conservation

We are constantly striving to improve irrigation efficiency, stormwater treatment, lake ecosystems and water quality in the lake system. Recently the Working Wetlands project was completed at Melbourne Gardens, reducing reliance on potable water by 40%.

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Home gardening

How we garden in botanic gardens, how you garden at home and how we all garden as a community has big impacts on the biodiversity and sustainability of urban Australia. The Australian Garden at Cranbourne is designed to showcase how native plants can make a spectacular and waterwise home garden. There is an Australian plant suitable for virtually any situation in your garden, from tall trees to ground covers, aquatic plants to those growing in low light or in full sun. Australian plants attract native birds and butterflies, and brighten up your garden with wonderful seasonal colour. Visit the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria to find inspiration and great tips for using Australian native plants at home.

Visit Cranbourne

Support

Help the Gardens grow

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has a special place in the hearts and minds of all Victorians. The Gardens has played an important role in the cultural development of Melbourne and can continue to flourish with the help of passionate individuals. There are many ways to get involved with the Gardens and we value any level of support, whether you are a friend or a donor, a member of our Director’s Circle or one of our volunteers. There are also ways to honour those you love by dedicating a tree or a bench within the Garden of your choice.

Support the Gardens

Become a friend

The Friends of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria at Melbourne and Cranbourne Gardens play an active role in raising funds for the gardens through plant sales and programs.

Join the Friends

Donate

It’s easy to help the Gardens. Any donation over $2 is tax deductible and every dollar helps contributes to the work of the Gardens.

Donate now

Honour someone you love

Many people share the Gardens with those they love and some visitors choose to mark a significant occasion by dedicating a tree or a bench to someone special. In the Gardens you’ll notice each bench has a dedication plaque featuring a favourite quote or the recognition of an anniversary, achievement or occasion.

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