Growing the Social Role: Partnerships in the Community

Growing the Social Role of Botanic Gardens was developed by BGCI, with support from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, following the publication of its landmark 2010 report Towards a New Social Purpose: Redefining the Role of Botanic Gardens. The key recommendation of the 2010 report was that, in order to fulfil their social role and stay relevant in today!s world, botanic gardens needed to relocate their social and environmental roles within a modern framework of values, mission and vision. Growing the Social Role has built on the foundations of Towards a New Social Purpose by working closely with three botanic gardens – Ness Botanic Garden, Winterbourne House and Gardens, and the National Botanic Garden of Wales – to help them re-evaluate their mission, philosophy, values goals and practices within a framework of social responsibility.