More than 300 botanic garden educators from 43 countries convened at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri from April 26‐May 1, 2015 for the 9th International Congress on Education in Botanic Gardens, jointly hosted by and the Missouri Botanical Garden and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the largest plant conservation network in the world. The theme of the congress was Biodiversity for a Better World: Wild Ideas Worth Sharing.

Four educators of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) presented their work at the congress. Their presentations were as following:

Wang Ximin   Inspiring nature journaling.

Zhang Weizhe  Push and pull factors determine adolescents’ participation in natural observation.

Liu Gunagyu  Ecological and socioeconomic effects on public’s interest on plant in China. 

Yang Xi   Chinese Union of Botanic Gardens’ efforts on environmental education research.

  This Congress, organized by BGCI every three years in different locations throughout the globe, provides an international forum for botanic garden educators worldwide to share experiences, set priorities and targets and review current trends and developments in environmental education. The 2015 congress challenged its participants to share successes and lessons, re‐examine strategies, future directions and practices for broadening and deepening community impact, and to think critically about evaluating progress in raising awareness about the value of plants to humanity and the threats they face.

   The Congress reviewed how best to motivate, equip, and support all citizens to take an increasingly active role in the environmental stewardship of their local communities. This was a unifying theme throughout the week’s series of keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and other events.

Missouri Botanic Garden