Botanical gardens historically are exclusive spaces, but the 天美影视传媒 is working to change that.
Many gardens originated as private spaces for predominantly white and wealthy individuals, said UW Botanic Gardens director . The collections were often curated through a process of stealing and renaming before the gardens were gifted as land to cities and universities.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a history of colonialism in many botanic gardens,鈥� said Owen. 鈥淭hat is the bedrock on which we鈥檙e standing. Plants and collections that exist throughout the world were collected in ways that did not honor the people and did not honor the plants themselves. They鈥檙e driven by the colonial age. That鈥檚 a history that all gardens must grapple with.鈥�
That鈥檚 the challenge for the , which includes both the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture. When Owen was hired in July 2021, UWBG already had an Equity and Justice Committee and was organizing an ongoing speaker series, , which explores how public gardens can evolve to meet the needs of local communities.
Owen is shifting the focus from bottom-up initiatives to work that is supported with and through leadership.
鈥淧art of what we鈥檙e looking at is having regular updates with our leadership team,鈥� Owen said, 鈥渁nd having the leadership team get more engaged in equity and social justice work and developing better onboarding. One of my big long-term goals is to see an increase in the diversity of staff. I think that starts with us and making sure that our culture is supportive for candidates of color and for employees of color.鈥�
That is a major barrier for public gardens, according to a recently published by the , an initiative housed at Denver Botanic Gardens that helps public gardens become more accessible spaces. The upcoming report found that lack of institutional diversification could be addressed through adjustments to hiring processes and procedures.
鈥淭he other piece is the need for training and professional development,鈥� said , director of the IDEA Center and a speaker in UWBG鈥檚 New Directions series. 鈥淭he way to support intuitional diversification is through training. The other part is organizational culture and leadership 鈥� the awareness that there needs to be an internal culture shift as a key step.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fear, a lack of buy-in or resistance to change. You can do all the training and all the changes you want, but it鈥檚 basically superficial unless there鈥檚 a culture change.鈥�
A new direction
The New Directions speaker series started in May, with past guests addressing topics like engaging with local Indigenous populations, youth leadership development, job training programs and opportunities for public land to support urban food systems and engage with BIPOC communities.
Sean M. Watts, principal of SM Watts Consulting and co-founder of , will give the final talk on Sept. 20. Watts鈥� lecture will explore how public gardens can support the work to drive environmental and land use policy and help white-led organizations act on diversity, equity and inclusion.
鈥淚 think we’re learning a lot about the priorities of the communities that we want to connect with,鈥� said adult education supervisor for UWBG. 鈥淚鈥檓 realizing that if we鈥檙e going to build relationships, we need to be addressing the priorities of those communities.鈥�
Plummer suggested ending the speaker series with a town hall, which is now scheduled for Sept. 21. The half-day, co-creative workshop will help create an action plan to address community challenges.
鈥淲e invite people from within the region,鈥� said Plummer, who plans to use the town hall as a prototype, 鈥渁nd we start by saying, 鈥榃hat were some of the big things that really resonated from the lecture series? What do we want to change? Can we set some actions?鈥欌��
UWBG鈥檚 outreach will continue on October with the . This year鈥檚 event will focus on bridging the gap between tribal practices and local government. The Coast Salish people have been included in the planning.
鈥淲e’re going to be looking at Indigenous people’s access to and role in the management of the local urban forests,鈥� Farmer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at an identity shift for our organization, but we need to hear from others in the community and not have it be an insular conversation.鈥�
Growing gardens
UWBG has collections from around the world. In the alone, visitors can view plants from Cascadia, Australia, China, Chile and New Zealand.
鈥淚t’s important to be intentional and thoughtful about these plants and places, how they鈥檙e collected and grown and the meaning to the people that are from there,鈥� Owen said.
The history of how corrected were curated has factored into the explicit and implicit exclusion from botanical gardens, said Farmer. UWBG is working to undo a perception of exclusivity by hosting programs like the speaker series and holding a summer camp that offers scholarships and is otherwise filled through a lottery system.
UWBG also launched . Each meeting is centered around a single topic 鈥� examples include the colonial past of botanical gardens, segregation in Seattle and problematic plant names 鈥� and Equity and Justice Committee members distribute resources and materials for staff to view before attending the discussion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really helped establish some common goals and common identity around this work,鈥� Farmer said. 鈥淧reviously, some on our staff felt like diversity, equity and inclusion work was the role of our education and outreach team but didn鈥檛 see how it fit into their work with facilities or horticulture. It鈥檚 really helped the gardeners see how much of an ambassador they are to the public when they鈥檙e out on the grounds.鈥�
For more information, contact Owen at crowen@uw.edu or Farmer at jsfarmer@uw.edu.