Abstract
Successful programs of crop wild relative (CWR) exploration, conservation, and utilization are ultimately dependent on sustained public prioritization and support, which in turn requires public awareness and engagement. Here we discuss the importance of advancing North America public education and outreach activities related to CWR, including improving capacity for public engagement, stakeholder building, partnering for education and outreach, and programmatic development. We focus specifically on the potential of botanic gardens as excellent partners for public engagement on CWR due to their presence in major population centers, knowledge of informal educational practices, and familiarity with plant biodiversity and agricultural crop species. We also discuss CWR outreach efforts outside of North America as well as related environmental education efforts within the region. This chapter provides an informal education and outreach primer for researchers who want to incorporate public engagement into their CWR research programs, as well as for informal education professionals seeking to capitalize on the growing public interest in food systems to explore food-related biodiversity topics.
Highlights
In the face of a changing climate, prioritizing the exploration, conservation, and utilization of crop wild relatives (CWR), and food plant genetic resources in general, is vital for future food security
Agricultural scientists dedicated to the exploration, conservation, and use of CWR can increase the impact of their work through collaborations with public education and outreach communities
Public engagement is impacted by factors such as personal values, attitudes, and beliefs (Schultz et al 1995; Crompton 2010)
Summary
In the face of a changing climate, prioritizing the exploration, conservation, and utilization of crop wild relatives (CWR), and food plant genetic resources in general, is vital for future food security. A suite of CWR-related topics are appropriate for public education, such as the origins of domesticated plants, the value of crop relatives to agriculture, practical benefits of plant conservation, genebank conservation, plant breeding, and the utilization of genetic resources. These topics connect to a diversity of wider educational subjects including agriculture, plant conservation, food plant genetics, ethnobotany, geography, history, planning, sustainable development, and more. Botanic gardens are given particular emphasis as important nodes for CWR research, outreach, and collaboration because of their strong levels of engagement with the CWR community, expertise at presenting plant science topics to the public, and their proximity to population centers in North America (Fig. 12.1)
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