On 1 February this year, the National Botanic Garden's environmental education centre Botania opened its doors to visitors of all ages and experience levels, as well as botany professionals and enthusiasts. Digital and physical learning about nature conservation and biodiversity issues, with particular emphasis on the importance of plants.
"Our Botania invites you to discover the world of plants. It is full of stories about roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits to take visitors on a fascinating journey through the plant world in an entertaining way. Botania is a story about the transfer and transmission of knowledge in a human, playful and exciting way. Knowledge that can be engaging for both children and adults, for those who know nature and those who are away from it," says Dace Miezīte, Education Officer at the National Botanic Garden and Content Developer at the Environmental Education Centre.
The construction and furnishing of Botania, an environmental education centre of national importance, took five years (2018-2023). It was co-financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund Environmental Monitoring, Control and Education Project.
The Botania Environmental Education Centre's exhibition is richly filled with more than 100 stories about the plant world in different ways of gaining knowledge and experience: through reading texts and listening passages, moving stands and interactive exhibits, leaf-catching games and buram words, touch-screen games and virtual reality experiences, smells and sounds, wind touches and the rustling of grains. The design and interior of the exhibition is intended to show how botany and natural sciences can be interesting and exciting for all ages and levels of expertise.
Botania has a distinctly 21st-century feel, with virtual glasses for underground and treetop journeys and digital games on big screens proving particularly popular with visitors young and old. There is also no shortage of interested researchers, both at the microscopes and at the trunk and flower scent tables. There is something for everyone's taste and desire to explore! Maybe they listen to a fairy tale in a quieter corner about the friendship between trees and mushrooms, or are surprised by an unknown fact about plants while reading the rich information texts.
Botania is open to the public from Thursday to Sunday, 10.00 - 16.00, by prior arrangement, and is accessible with valid National Botanic Garden tickets. To visit the new environmental education centre, visitors are invited to select and book the available visiting times in advance via the digital pre-booking system. Information on this can be found both on the National Botanic Garden website www.nbd.gov.lv and on the new ''Botania'' website www.botania.lv. Visitor numbers to the new centre are limited to allow everyone to comfortably enjoy the extensive exhibitions and to take their time learning new skills with the unique games, devices and environmental elements, as well as for staff to gradually explore the nuances of visitor interests and behaviour. The exhibition covers six themes: roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds and fruits, ecology and biodiversity. Each visitor will have up to two hours to explore and get to know the exhibition.
Photo by Matīss Markovskis
