The Gold Fields Environmental Education Center

The Gold Fields Environmental Education Centre, located at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens (Cape Town) offers a range of programmes for teachers and learners, including environmental education workshops, guided school visits to the Gardens and outreach to schools.

Its aim is to use the Botanical Gardens and resources of the National Botanical Institute (NBI) to inspire and enable people to take responsibility for their environment.

Educational programmes at the centre aim to:

improve access for pupils, students and teachers to the Gardens;

facilitate access to the resources and expertise housed at the NBI to increase the educational value of a visit to the National Botanical Gardens;

contribute to education reconstruction and development through quality environmental and botanical education programmes;

develop effective environmental and botanical education networks;

encourage and support of community-based environmental action linked to indigenous plants.

Teacher Workshops

The centre offers enrichment workshops for groups of at least ten teachers. Topics include Understanding Outcomes Based Education (OBE), Fynbos, Indigenous Forests and Environmental Education in your School Grounds . During these workshops, OBE is explored in action and a variety of creative hands-on activities are shared.

Pre-school Teachers' Workshops

Instead of offering guided outings for Preschoolers, Kirstenbosch prepares teachers to take their own groups to the Garden.

Outreach Bus Pre-visit Workshops

The Gold Fields Centre also places a strong emphasis on creating learning opportunities for disadvantaged learners. Anglo American & the De Beers Chairman's Fund has funded an "Outreach Bus", which enables school groups that do not have transport of their own to visit the Botanical Garden, for educational purposes. Teachers bringing self-guided groups to Kirstenbosch on the Outreach Bus attend a free compulsory workshop which helps with the planning of lessons in the Garden.

Outreach Greening Programme

The Kirstenbosch Outreach Horticulturist and staff of the Gold Fields Centre are currently working with teachers, learners and caretakers at 16 schools on the Cape Flats to develop school gardens. Techniques of how to propagate plants and maintaining a garden are demonstrated at regular workshops. The project aims to extend the formal classroom into the garden and enrich all learners with skills, attitudes and knowledge about plants and the environment.