We recently delivered a bespoke, whole‑staff training programme for colleagues at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), set in the inspiring surroundings of the gardens themselves.
RBGE approached Scotdec to support staff across teams to develop a decolonial, global citizenship approach to their work with learners and visitors. In response, we designed a tailored day of staff training rooted in RBGE’s specific context – its collections, stories, public‑facing resources and educational programmes.
Led by Scotdec’s Global Education Adviser Jennifer Buchan, the training created space for staff to reflect on how global histories, power, representation and knowledge are embedded in botanical collections, interpretation and learning experiences. Sessions combined shared frameworks, facilitated discussion and practical tools that staff can apply directly to future resource creation, professional learning offers and visitor engagement.
The day supported participants to:
- explore decolonial and Global Citizenship Education principles in a botanical setting
- reflect critically on language, narratives and representation
- consider how global connections and histories can be surfaced thoughtfully in learning experiences
- develop practical approaches for embedding these perspectives across RBGE’s work
One RBGE staff member reflected:
“A brilliant day with the amazing RBGE team exploring taking a decolonial, global citizenship approach to content, material and sessions with learners and visitors to the gardens. A huge thank you to Jen for preparing such inspiring bespoke training sessions – the framing for reflection and discussions was excellent, and we are very grateful for all the practical tips and tools that we can now apply in our work.”
This work reflects Scotdec’s wider role in supporting organisations – not just schools – to embed Global Citizenship and anti‑racist practice across learning, engagement and public education. By designing training in direct response to organisational needs and settings, we help teams move from intention to meaningful, sustainable change.
We are excited to build on this work with RBGE and to continue developing bespoke professional learning offers for cultural, heritage and education organisations across Scotland.
