This thesis investigates the relationship between landscape design and effectiveness of environmental education in botanic gardens in Taiwan. Beginning with a review of the historical development and changing role of the botanic garden, botanic gardens have been shown to react to the development of plant sciences and to reflect contemporary human demands, such as commercial trade, collecting habits and recreation. The conclusion is reached that after the Rio Earth Summit the most important role of the botanic garden in the 21 st century lies in enviromnental education. l. Interviews with educators and those involved in design of botanic gardens in the • UK reveal that botanic gardens have been actively producing educational programmes for different age groups of people and they have ingeniously incorporated interpretation techniques into the sites and plant collections to send enviromnental messages. The results of interviews with educators of Taiwan botanic gardens reveal that efforts have been made to improve the educational function while serving strong recreational demands of the Taiwanese people. Surveys of visitor distribution in two Taiwan botanic gardens identify attractive landscape features and popular activities conducted by users which lead to uneven distribution of visitors on the site. A questionnaire survey of visitors' responses to an exhibition focuses on the detailed relationships between exhibition design and the effectiveness in attraction and informing people. The results shows that "attractive" landscapes do not always need to be beautiful. A panel with an intriguing theme title could directly create a sense of mystery to arouse visitors' interests to explore and participate in the activity. In order to maximise the educational outcome the holistic approach should start from a collaboration of educators and garden designers. Carefully making landscape attractive and narrative has the potential to assist educators to tell stories and send enviromnental messages to the public in Taiwan.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:365383 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Chang, Li-shin |
| Publisher | University of Reading |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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