BGANZ 2025 Program
Please note that this program is subject to change without notice.
The main congress venue will be Old Parliament House (OPH), with unique social events at both OPH and the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG), as well as exciting field trips.
Sunday 2 November | |
| 1500-1700 | Tour of the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) Including Flora Explorer option and walking option |
| 1600-1800 | Congress Registration Desk Open |
| 1600-1640 | BARB - BQ: Come and join the BARB Arborists and tree managers for a sausage sizzle and tree people mingle |
| 1630-1800 | BGANZ 2025 Welcome Reception Evening reception at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Formalities begin at 5.15 pm. |
Monday 3 November | |
| 0800-1800 |
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| 1800-1900 | BGANZ AGM |
| 1930-2100 | Twilight Tour of the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) Departing from the clock (near café bridge) |
Tuesday 4 November | |||
| 0800-1700 | Registration Desk Open | ||
| 0830-0845 | Pre congress coffee & tea | ||
| 0845-0905 | Welcome to Country Ceremony | ||
| 0905-0925 | Welcome Address | ||
| 0925-0940 | Director, ANBG | ||
| 0940-1000 | Setting the scene for BGANZ Congress 2025, Cassandra Nichols, Chief Executive Officer, BGANZ | ||
| 1000-1030 | Morning Tea | ||
| 1030-1115 | Keynote Presentation: Dr Paul Smith, Secretary General, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) | ||
| 1115-1200 | Keynote Presentation: Advancing plant sciences and conservation through best practice traditional owner collaborations, Dr Stephen Hopper, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Western Australia | ||
| 1200-1300 | Lunch | ||
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| Planning for the Future (1) | Branching Out (1) | Innovation (1) |
| 1300-1320 | Can't do it without you: collaboration and codesign in collections display Andrea Proctor, Andrea Proctor Landscapes, VIC, Australia | Learning not to separate Country and People in ex-situ plant conservation Mitchell Korda, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia | Cycad conservation in Australia and the role of botanic gardens Tim Uebergang, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, VIC, Australia |
| 1320-1340 | Burrendong Botanic Garden and Arboretum - BBGA BEYOND60 Rachel Mac Smith, Burrendong Botanic Garden & Arboretum, NSW, Australia | Raising rarity: sowing the seeds of wonder Dr Megan Hirst & Natasha van Velzen, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, VIC, Australia | Advancing plant science through a consolidated information system at the Australian National Botanic Gardens Anne Fuchs, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia |
1340-1400 | Garden for the future: reflecting on the design of resilient botanic landscapes for a changing climate Lisa Howard, TCL, VIC, Australia | Crafting nature: the evolution of Larni Garingilang in Bendigo Botanic Gardens Kirstie Paterson, City of Greater Bendigo, VIC, Australia | Seed banking conservation ladder: a framework for assessing ex situ conservation knowledge gaps Freya Brown, National Seed Bank, ACT, Australia |
| 1400-1420 | The journey of the transformation of an illegal industrial dumping ground into the Melbourne Arboretum Matt Weller, The Melbourne Arboretum, VIC, Australia | The changing landscape of education in botanic gardens: cultivating well-being through nature Kate Heywood, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia | Antarctic beech ex-situ conservation - from cutting edge conservation genomics, to cutting conservation hedges Ian Allan, The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, NSW, Australia |
| 1420-1440 | Volunteers journey with plant collection recording John Bentley, Friends of the Melton Botanic Garden, VIC, Australia | Greener on the outside - engaging 'disengaged' youth through an inclusive outreach program Peter Dawe, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia | Fighting with nature - managing wild ecosystems in a botanic garden Ella Rawcliffe, Auckland Botanic Gardens, Auckland, New Zealand |
| 1440-1500 | Devastation to opportunity - the impacts and analysis of Cyclone Alfred on Gold Coast Botanic Garden's living collection Stuart Elder, City of Gold Coast, QLD, Australia | Story first, latin later: creating emotional connections to conservation collections Amalia McLaren-Brown, Wellington Gardens, Wellington, NZ | Gandel Gondwana Garden at Melbourne Museum a 'walk' through time with the landscape architects Lucas Dean, TCL, VIC, Australia |
| 1500-1530 | Afternoon tea | ||
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| Planning for the Future (2) | Branching Out (2) | Protecting Plants & People (1) |
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| Botanic Garden of Sydney's living collections climate change resilience strategy Damian Wrigley, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia | Conservation through collaboration at the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden Terence Moon, Parks Victoria, VIC, Australia | Preserving heritage and horticulture: the seismic upgrade of Auckland Domain Winter Garden Jonathan Corvisy, Auckland City Botanic Gardens, Auckland, New Zealand |
| 1550-1610 | 1550-1650 WORKSHOP: Tessa Kum & Clare Hart, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, VIC, Australia; Andrea Proctor, Andrea Proctor Landscapes, VIC, Australia | 1550-1650 WORKSHOP: John Siemon, Damian Wrigley & Daniella Pasqualini, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW Australia; Matt Coulter, Botanic Gardens & State Herbarium of South Australia, SA, Australia
| Phytophthora surveillance, risk management, and conservation impacts: from botanic gardens and nurseries to World Heritage areas Dr Matthew Laurence, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia |
| 1610-1630 | Move the bench: using tree risk assessment frameworks to inform tree protection Chelsea Payne, Botanic Parks & Gardens Authority, WA, Australia | ||
| 1630 -1650 | Optimising compost quality, quantifying soil health and remediating poor soil conditions Matthew Daniel, Hepburn Shire Council, VIC, Australia | ||
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| 1730-1830 | The Great Debate | ||
| 1900-2200 | BGANZ 2025 Congress Dinner At the Museum of Australian Democracy (at Old Parliament House) | ||
Wednesday 5 November | ||||||
| 0800-1700 | Registration Desk Open | |||||
| 0830-0845 | Pre-congress coffee & tea | |||||
| 0845-0930 | Keynote Presentation: Dr Fiona Fraser, Threatened Species Commissioner | |||||
| 0930-1000 | Keynote Presentation | |||||
| 1000-1030 | Keynote Presentation: Co-designing a Māori Garden, Rebecca Stanley Auckland Botanic Gardens, New Zealand | |||||
| 1030-1100 | Morning tea | |||||
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| Innovation (2) | Protecting Plants & People (2) | Branching Out (3) | |||
| 1100-1120 | Weaving new science through historic botanic garden fabric Richard Barley MBE, Previously with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK | Plant Health Australia’s role in the biosecurity partnership between Government and industry Sarah Corcoran, Plant Health Australia, ACT, Australia | Event horticulture: experiences and learnings to share from Adelaide Botanic Garden Dr Leonie Scriven, Botanic Gardens & State Herbarium, SA, Australia | |||
| 1120-1140 | iNaturalist - a national approach to citizen science in botanic gardens Patricia Kaye, Wallace Herbarium, Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens, NSW, Australia | Integrated pest management (IPM) in the tropical glasshouses at the Australian National Botanic Gardens Kathryn Scobie, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia | With kids, for kids, by kids: refreshing the Children's Garden storytelling at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Sally McPhee, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, VIC, Australia | |||
| 1140-1200 | Saving the Murrumbidgee River Corridor’s rarest occupant using a holistic conservation approach Dr Veronica Briceno Rodriguez, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia | Biosecurity in botanic gardens John Siemon & Damian Wrigley, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia | Open their hearts and blow their minds - 43 years of storytelling at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney Paul Nicholson, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, NSW, Australia | |||
| 1200-1220 | The Ian Potter National Conservatory - plants and horticulture Dr Veronica Briceno Rodriguez, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia | The BGANZ Living Collections Toolkit: building capacity, planning for the future Sheree Parker, Amanda Shade, Andrea Proctor & John Arnott, BCARM (BGANZ Collections and Records Management), VIC, Australia | Grow wild: Kew + communities = positive outcomes for biodiversity and wellbeing Richard Barley MBE, Previously with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK | |||
| 1220-1240 | Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust funding opportunities Nancy Kartes, Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, Washington, USA | The value proposition of botanic gardens in growing cities Bec Ramsay, Wellington Gardens, Wellington, New Zealand | ‘Botanic gardens beyond the gates’ Wollongong Botanic Gardens’ role in creating a botanic city Felicity Skoberne, Wollongong Botanic Garden, NSW, Australia | |||
| 1240-1300 | Supporting species recovery under the Critically Endangered Project Bradley Desmond, Australian Seed Bank Partnership, ACT, Australia |
| Connecting to Country: inspiring awe and wonder through outdoor learning Tracey Saunders, Australian Botanic Gardens, NSW, Australia | |||
| 1300-1345 | Lunch | |||||
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| Innovation (3) | Branching Out & Innovation | Branching Out & Innovation (2) | Protecting Plants & People (3) | ||
| 1345-1350 | 1345-1500 WORKSHOP: John Arnott, PD Working Group; Peter Symes; Andrea Proctor, Andrea Proctor Landscapes, VIC, Australia; Dorothy Coco; Kirkcaldie Bowell; Amanda Shade
| 1345-1500 WORKSHOP: Dr Kathy Eyles, Australian National Botanic Gardens; Damian Wrigley, Botanic Gardens of Sydney | BARB i-Tree Canopy assessment of the economic benefits our trees provide Ian Allan, The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, NSW, Australia | 1400-1500 WORKSHOP: Ian Allan, The Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens, NSW, Australia; Chelsea Payne, Kings Park & Botanic Garden, BGANZ Arboriculture Group (BARB), WA, Australia and Matt Coyne, Botanic Gardens of Sydney , BARB, NSW, Australia | ||
| 1350-1355 | Innovative approach to conservation of Eupomatia laurina in Victoria Andrea Dennis, Maranoa Botanic Gardens, VIC, Australia | |||||
| 1355-1400 | Promoting nature-based solutions: botanic gardens as the shop window for public and professionals Emma Simpkins, Auckland Botanic Gardens, Auckland, New Zealand | |||||
| 1400-1405 | Survivor Trees, Hiroshima - trees as tools for peace Virginia McNally, University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia | |||||
| 1405-1410 | Problem solving for holistic ex situ conservation of vulnerable subalpine species Bek Hyland, Australian National Botanic Gardens, ACT, Australia & Gemma Hoyle, National Seed Bank, ACT, Australia | |||||
| 1410-1415 | Plants for pollinators Fiona Chambers, Wheen Bee Foundation, VIC, Australia | |||||
| 1415-1420 | Full bloom: cultivating connection and wellbeing in the garden for people living with dementia Dr Sarah Brikke, Botanic Gardens of Sydney, NSW, Australia | |||||
| 1420-1425 | Discover how the Botanic Gardens of Sydney used strategy and innovation to become an industry leader in Camellia conservation worldwide Ashley Filipovski, DPIE, NSW, Australia | |||||
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| 1430-1500 WORKSHOP: Graham Tupper, Friends of the North Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, NSW, Australia | |||||
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| 1500-1520 | Afternoon Tea | |||||
| 1520-1550 | Plenary Presentation: Heads of Botanic Gardens Panel Discussion (CHABG/BGANZ) | |||||
| 1550-1600 | BGANZ Board Wrap and Conclusions | |||||
| 1600 | Congress Close | |||||
Page photo credits:
Friends Wollongong BG - Wollongong Botanic Garden
Harvesting Phebalium davesii seed at RTBG nursery - Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
Visitors to the Hoop Pine Forest - Tracey Whitby
Cranbourne Gardens Nursery Staff Propagating Care for the rare collections - RBGV
We acknowledge Australia's First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We respectfully acknowledge the role that First Nations people continue to play in shaping Australia's democracy. We also acknowledge the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the region in which The Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House is located.