KA 2 - Botanical Garden: COME IN! - english version

Project pages www.garden-comein.com

The project Botanical Garden: COME IN! VSTUPTE! ANGE! WPISAĆ! BELÉP! is based on the development, passing on and setting up innovative practices in the field of making botanic gardens more accessible to the general public with emphasis on visitors with special needs. The project continues and develops an already functioning system of activities which make Prague botanic garden more accessible to persons with special needs. Foundations of this system were laid in 1996.

Based on the positive responses to these activities, we decided to introduce joint initiative to promote cooperation, mutual learning and exchange of experience at a European level and to offer cooperation to other European botanic gardens. The offer of cooperation has been accepted by three entities: Gothenburg Botanical Garden (Sweden), The Adam Mickiewicz University Botanical Garden (Poland) and Magyar Arborétumok és Botanikus kertek Szövetsége (Hungary). Together we have formed a project involving inclusive methods in the field of education, creation of intellectual outputs and innovative ideas in making botanic gardens accessible to visitors with special needs and their intense dissemination and use in educational activities for the general public, including visitors with special needs.

The target group of our project is general public with the emphasis on the visitors with special needs.

The shared formation of the intellectual outputs, their impact, the education activities and - the most importantly - the spreading of the results of the project - this all represents a very important step for an improvement of the life quality of the persons with special needs in the international context.

The concrete main project results are as follows:

The methodology of accessing the BG to the visitors with special needs.

The Exhibition for all senses will be exhibited in the partner organizations and will use the method of perception of nature and around world with all senses.

The international conference "Botanic Garden as an open institution - teaching  activities aimed on visitors with special needs (methodology, experience, inspiration)".

As a part of the project we plan to accomplish 6 transnational project meetings where all the partners will take part. We plan also to include two transnational learning, teaching, training activities (LTTA) in our project. Without the LTTA, there is no guarantee in understanding the problematics in the required context and the comparison of the level of knowledge and the practical skills necessary for the formation of the intellectual outputs.

The impact of the project on participants, participating organization, target group and other relevant steakholders  is very important. Educational activities initially focused on visitors with special needs (exhibition for all senses) are a practical demonstration of inclusive education. In the end they also make offered services and educational events for the general public significantly more attractive. By these activities we will not only participate on the integration of minorities into society and promotion of social role of BG but we will also support the interest of general public in botany, horticulture and protection of environment.

The sharing and development of our  experience by the foreign partners, who declared the determination to improve the offer of services for visitors with special needs in the broad sense, are the main conditions for the long-term sustainability of the project even after its official termination. All the outputs of the project will be available on-line after the termination of the project.

Logo of the project

1. Entrance meeting - Prague 20.-24.2.2017

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.