Myths about visitors to botanic gardens
This article was originally published on the Museums Australia website in 2002. Museums Australia (MA) is now called Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMAGA).
This followed a presentation at the Museums Australia National Conference held 18-23 March 2002 in Adelaide. It formed part of the Evaluation and Visitor Research Special Interest Group (EVRSIG) session.
Work presented here lead to the MARVEL project (Museums Actively Researching Visitor Experiences and Learning) a collaboration between the University of Technology Sydney, the Australian Museum, the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney and Environmetrics Pty Ltd. The project team members were Janette Griffin, Lynda Kelly, Janelle Hatherly and Gillian Savage respectively from each of the above organisations. Our aim was to develop a set of tools for measuring aspects of learning in any cultural institution. There is an Australian Museum publication that can be accessed here.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this paper contains images of someone who has died.
Janelle Hatherly 2021
Abstract
One of the commonly held myths about visitors to botanic gardens is that they are not interested in learning. People primarily visit botanic gardens to socialise with family or friends and to relax in the ambience of aesthetically appealing surroundings. However, this paper attempts to show that, even though a visit might be recreational and to switch off from the stresses of everyday life, visitors can still have a meaningful learning experience in a botanic garden provided the information is presented for them in an engaging and accessible way.
Four years ago, the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney made a corporate commitment to Aboriginal Reconciliation and set about creating a garden display called Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters to interpret the Gardens' Indigenous heritage. ‘Cadi Jam Ora’ means ‘I am on Cadi land’ and acknowledges the local Aboriginal people, the Cadigal, and their strong connection to this land.
The display explains that Aboriginal culture once thrived around Sydney Harbour until its displacement by British colonists in 1788. It goes so far as to reinterpret the First Farm created by early white settlers (this site is also located in the Sydney Gardens) and attempts to dispel the myth that Australia was once an empty and wild landscape – terra nullius.
Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters is more than an aesthetic arrangement of flora native to Sydney’s coast, and visitor research and evaluation indicate the display goes some way towards educating and challenging visitors’ attitudes and beliefs about local Aboriginal people and their relationship to the environment.
Garden visitors
The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (RBGS), located adjacent to Sydney Opera House on magnificent Sydney Harbour, has been attracting visitors from all levels of society and walks of life for almost two hundred years1. Approximately three million people visit RBGS annually. Surveys generally show that more than 70% are repeat visitors and approximately 50% visit at least monthly. People repeat pleasurable experiences and the high visitation levels to RBGS leave no doubt that the Gardens are popular and are meeting visitor expectations. Visitor research at RBGS supports the notion that most people visit these gardens for reasons other than learning and major visitor surveys from 19872 and fifteen years on3 give the following reasons why people come to the RBGS.
2001
Relaxation (21%)
Aesthetics (19%)
Peace/tranquillity/refuge (18%)
Sightseeing/general interest (17%)
Walking/jogging (9%)
Botanic (5%)
Horticultural (3%)
Educational (5%)
Thoroughfare (3%)
1987
Aesthetic purposes (32%)
Passive recreation (25%)
Thoroughfare (17%)
Active recreation (9%)
Special purpose (4%)
Botanic (4%)
Other (8%)
Similar results are obtained for botanic gardens all around the world. It's uncanny how often the terms ‘peace and tranquillity’ are included in visitor-elicited responses.
The role of botanic gardens
Botanic gardens, however, are more than just beautiful parks and there are strong messages to be conveyed – primarily messages about plants and their conservation. It is generally agreed by the botanic gardens’ fraternity that the combined role of botanic gardens is scientific, educational, aesthetic and recreational. It is interesting to note that visitors too, when asked ‘What is the role of botanic gardens?’, also clearly identify plant biodiversity, botanical and horticultural research and public education as their main purpose.
In 1997 a RBGS Venue Monitor phone survey4 of 1,000 people included a question on the activities the RBGS is actively involved in. Visitors to the Gardens (and the general population) in the last six months ranked the activities as:
providing information about plants 91% (83%)
promoting the need for conservation 71% (66%)
providing education about the environment 67% (65%)
publishing scientific journals 41% (37%)
These findings are not unique to RBGS and surveys recently done in another capital city and a regional botanic garden around the same time support this5,6.
The challenge for botanic gardens, therefore, is to make visitors' perception of the living collections as green wallpaper appear different/come alive/tell a story. Even though learning isn’t the primary reason for visiting a garden, botanic gardens are well-placed to be powerful learning environments. St Thomas Aquinas, the 13th century Italian Dominican monk and one of the greatest intellects of the Middle Ages, gives us a clear indication of why7: “You change people by delight. You change people by pleasure.”
When people are relaxed and enjoying themselves, they are more receptive to overt or subtle messages which may change their attitude or behaviour – learning occurs and is welcome. Planners of public garden displays therefore need to clearly identify key learning objectives and include the gorgeous, the unusual and even the surprising to get their messages across. We used this strategy to develop a garden display addressing the Indigenous heritage of the Sydney gardens.
A case study
In 1997, as part of its Meeting the Challenges for 2000 and Beyond strategy, RBGS made a commitment to Aboriginal Reconciliation and to work with Sydney’s Indigenous community to interpret their connections with the land and traditional Aboriginal use of plants. This was considered particularly relevant because prior to 1788 the RBGS was home to the Cadigal, the traditional owners who were decimated by smallpox within three years of white settlement. It is also the site of the First European Farm ever established in Australia. The latter is acknowledged in the Sydney gardens with a stone monument while the presence of the original inhabitants goes unmentioned.
The last four years has seen this imbalance redressed with the development of the Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters display. The project team kept visitor research and evaluation top-of-mind throughout the development of this display.
From left: Dawson Ougham, John Lennis, Janelle Hatherly, Stuart Drury, Kristina Resanceff, Ian Innes and Paul Nicholson.
Front-end and formative evaluation of Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters significantly targeted the local Aboriginal community whose stories we set out to tell and with whom we hoped to build lasting relationships. One outcome of early research (external and internal stakeholder workshops8) was the imperative to employ an Aboriginal Education Officer to work with the project team.
John Lennis came on board in this capacity in June 1999. As well as helping develop the garden display John continues to work with the Community Education team to establish an extensive public program of guided walks with Aboriginal guides, children’s holiday activities, bush food lessons and interactive drama sessions for schools. He also takes the Gardens’ messages beyond the walls with public talks and advises schools and communities about establishing bush tucker gardens.
In May 1999, the celebrations for National Sorry Day – the Journey of Healing culminated in the RBGS, with the planting of the Sea of Hands on the site that was to become the Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters display. In his speech to an audience of Indigenous and non-Indigenous sympathisers of the Stolen Generation, RBGS’s Director, Frank Howarth, explained the objectives of the display and invited participants to share with the project team what the RBGS meant to them and what they would specifically like to see and learn about in the new display planned for this site.
Visitors could write their responses and/or record them on video with Nathan Ramsey from SBS television’s Indigenous affairs program, ICAM (Indigenous Cultural Affairs Magazine program)9. This feedback reinforced the appropriateness of the objectives and provided valuable details. Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters has as its objectives10:
to create an experience of what happened here, on this very spot, at the time of European settlement/invasion.
to convey Aboriginal people’s prior use and significance of this site and their understanding of plants.
to represent the differing environmental perspectives of Aboriginal and European cultures.
to work closely with the local Aboriginal community to foster Reconciliation and show that Sydney has a continuing Aboriginal culture
With these objectives in mind, the garden display was designed and developed and, if successfully executed, it could be expected that summative evaluation would show that visitors would be able to recall at least some of the objectives of the display.
Unlike typical museum exhibitions, the finished product – a living garden – is visible to the public in all its stages of development and continues to evolve and change long after it is completed. This is one of the aspects that makes botanic gardens interesting places to visit more than once.
Visitors enjoy watching the garden grow and observing how plants change with the seasons. To this end the project team was able to make a commitment to good horticultural practice and planted young seedlings which became better-established rather than mature specimens which give instant impact.
Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters was developed in two stages. Stage One: the hard and soft landscaping with basic plantings and limited interpretation (in time for the hoards of visitors to Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games — 250,000 visitors in three weeks) and Stage Two: the completion of the interpretation strategy which included a 50-metre-long Storyline detailing Sydney’s history from an Indigenous perspective.
The latter had significant input from Sydney’s Indigenous community and John Lennis conducted over 40 personal interviews to obtain contemporary quotes and identify relevant events.
Three sets of summative evaluation targeting ‘what visitors learnt’ have taken place to date:
1. University student research project, October 200011
Students from Macquarie University's Environmental Interpretation and Community Education Course conducted limited visitor surveys at the end of Stage One when the hard and soft landscaping had been completed (in time for the Olympics).
2. IAA Evaluation workshop, August 200112
As part of an Interpretation Australia Association professional development opportunity a quantitative on-site questionnaire was developed and trialed at the end of Stage Two when the major interpretive element (a 50 m storyline) had been installed.
3. In-house surveys, February 200213
The Education team at the RBGS ensured that the on-site questionnaire was repeated and tracking studies were done after six months' establishment.
The results are interesting and clearly show that visitors can be engaged in learning while visiting a botanic garden provided the messages are clearly worked out in the planning stages and the design incorporates aesthetic and attention-grabbing elements.
For 1:
Visitors did not come specifically to see Cadi Jam Ora.
Cadi Jam Ora did not attract visitors because it was not well developed. It appeared sparse with too much signage/information.
Nearby distractions were flying foxes in the heritage Palm Grove and a retail outlet for the State of the Waratah exhibition in the Palm Glasshouse.
A small percentage of visitors engaged with elements of the display, in particular, the goanna and the gunyah. When tested, most of these visitors could recall that the Cadigal were the traditional owners of this land.
Most visitors also said that they would like to return and would recommend it to others.
For 2:
Most visitors did not come specifically to see Cadi Jam Ora.
Visitors were attracted by the visual impact of the display and the strong interpretive elements.
Visitors engaged with various aspects of the display and when tested, visitors could articulate at least two of the objectives.
Many visitors were moved by the display (positively and negatively) and were keen to comment or continue discussion.
For 3:
While most visitors did not come specifically to see Cadi Jam Ora, they expressed an interest in learning about Indigenous heritage of the garden.
They commented favourably on the visual impact of the display (many noticing the changes over time) and the strong interpretive elements.
Visitors engaged with many aspects of the display and when tested, could recall most of the objectives.
There were several different entry points into the display and time spent there ranged from seconds (thoroughfare) to 20 minutes.
Feedback is not only received by conducting structured and formal evaluation. We know that Cadi Jam Ora -First Encounters has achieved its learning objectives because many people have written to us expressing congratulations, support and even anger about our interpretation of RBGS’s Indigenous and European heritage.
We have had many requests to recommend it in guide books, books on Indigenous heritage etc., and media interest and attendance to our school and community programs remains high. Indigenous people use Cadi Jam Ora -First Encounters as a meeting place and one Indigenous wedding has already taken place there.
Funding for John Lennis’s position continues and we now employ several Aboriginal interpreters on a casual basis for our structured education programs. A highlight for me was seeing Aboriginal Elders telling traditional stories as part of our holiday activity, Dreaming Stories of the Cadigal, to audiences that included Aboriginal children. Despite its Eurocentricity and highly contrived landscape, RBGS has meaning for the Indigenous community and they feel a sense of ownership towards it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while visitor profiles and expectations have been gathered for years in botanic gardens, commitment to strategic evaluation in order to design effective displays and test learning outcomes is still fairly embryonic. I know of no botanic garden where budget funds are allocated specifically to visitor research and evaluation, or where a staff position has been dedicated to this purpose.
Because of their sheer size, large sections of public gardens must be developed and maintained purely with aesthetics in mind. However, when organisational messages are to be conveyed, displays with clear objectives need to be developed and project teams must be prepared to incorporate elements cited as important by visitors. Staff must be prepared to change elements when visitor research indicates the intended messages are not being received or even worse, are being ignored or misunderstood.
References
The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, A History 1816 –1985 Lionel Gilbert 1986
Visitor Survey Report Centre of Leisure and Tourism Studies (Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education) December 1987
A Research Report on a Survey on Brand and Image of RBGS Faculty of Business, School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism (UTS) 2001
Market Research – “Venue Monitor”- Summary RBGS Environmetrics Winter 1997
Brisbane Botanic Gardens – Mount Coot-tha Visitor Survey and Pedestrian Access Study Report Volume 1A AGB McNair 1997
Interpretation and Visitor Services – An Evaluation of Policies and Practices in Australia’s Botanic Gardens Lucy Sutherland Master of Applied Sciences thesis 1997
Education by Stealth: The Subtle Art of Educating People who didn’t come to learn – Ian Darwin Edwards ROOTS July 2000
RBGS First Encounters Workshop Report – Claire Duffy
ICAM video and survey transcripts, Community Education Unit RBGS
RBGS First Encounters Brief and Design Documentation – AMBS
Interpretive Evaluation of the Cadi Jam Ora – First Encounters and Aboriginal Tours Suzanne McPherson Student research project for Environmental Interpretation & Community Education Course at Macquarie University October 2000
A practical Guide to Evaluating Natural and Cultural Heritage Interpretation Gillian Savage & Jane James August 2001
Revised survey from A practical Guide to Evaluating Natural and Cultural Heritage Interpretation Gillian Savage & Jane James 2001 and Observation Survey Louise Brooks February 2002
© Janelle Hatherly
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