For the 2018 fall colloquium, Garden and Landscape Studies, in collaboration with New York Botanical Garden, will bring together a group of historians, landscape designers, and scientists to discuss the changing role of botanical gardens (including arboreta) in the urban context as both landscapes and research and public institutions. Of particular interest is the role of design in helping botanical gardens meet the challenge of operating as educational and community resources while maintaining their traditional focus on the preservation and study of plants. Historically, botanical gardens proved to be a very adaptable and resilient type, serving as repositories of materia medica, teaching or taxonomical aids, and centers for plan acclimatization in the context of colonial botany.
1) What are the likely scenarios for the development of botanical gardens in the future?
2) What are the most effective ways in which botanical gardens could communicate ideas about nature to city dwellers at the age of advanced urbanization and climate change?
3) What role could historical scholarship of botanical gardens play in this regard?