Update of the catalogue of the Ferran Soldevila Garden with 218 botanical species
The Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba), a living fossil that belongs to a 150-million-year-old lineage, and the yew (Taxus baccata), which is the tree of the death in many European regions, are some examples of ornamental trees that can be visited in the Ferran Soldevila Garden, a true oasis of greenness and shade at the heart of the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona (UB). To bring citizens closer to the richness of this botanical heritage is the main objective of the new catalogue of the Ferran Soldevila Garden, which contains a detailed inventory of 218 plant species that inhabit this emblematic place included in the network of University Botanical Gardens of the Coïmbra Group.
The Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba), a living fossil that belongs to a 150-million-year-old lineage, and the yew (Taxus baccata), which is the tree of the death in many European regions, are some examples of ornamental trees that can be visited in the Ferran Soldevila Garden, a true oasis of greenness and shade at the heart of the Historic Building of the University of Barcelona (UB). To bring citizens closer to the richness of this botanical heritage is the main objective of the new catalogue of the Ferran Soldevila Garden, which contains a detailed inventory of 218 plant species that inhabit this emblematic place included in the network of University Botanical Gardens of the Coïmbra Group.
The new species catalogue of the Ferran Soldevila Garden is presented today, Tuesday 8 September, at 7 p.m., at the garden of the Historic Building of the UB. The vice-rector for Institutional Relations and Culture, Dr Lourdes Cirlot, and the vice-rector for Teaching and Language Policy, Dr Manuel Viader, participate in the event, which includes the presentation of the results of the teaching innovation project “Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge-servei a Botànica farmacèutica” (Gardens for health: pharmaceutical botany service-learning).
A botanical garden at the heart of the city
The Ferran Soldevilla Garden hosts very valuable specimens, catalogued by the Barcelona City Council, and includes some environmental education routes. Moreover, the garden is a place of leisure, health, relaxation and amusement for the university community. It hosts parties, meetings and university lessons. It also serves research purposes as it facilitates samples of key species in botanical research activity.
The new catalogue of the Ferran Soldevila Garden, available online, is a very useful tool for garden management and maintenance. It is also a valuable instrument for teaching, research and heritage. In order to facilitate species identification, a QR code will be placed next to each specimen so visitors will be able to download key information about each species on their phones. The complete catalogue is also available on the site of the Virtual Museum of the UB, an initiative fostered by the Office of the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Culture which, together with the Office of the Vice-Rector for Teaching and Language Policy, support the presentation of project results.
Gardens for health: pharmaceutical botany service-learning
Catalogue update has been carried out within the interdisciplinary teaching innovation project “Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a Botànica farmacèutica”, which is part of the Teaching Improvement and Innovation Programme 2015 of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Teaching and Language Policy. Revision and cataloguing, developed from September 2014 to July 2015, has been conducted by professors Ramon M. Masalles (Faculty of Biology) and Cèsar Blanché (Faculty of Pharmacy), who are members of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), and Joaquim Flores, technician at Espais Verds (green areas) of the UB.
The project is led by Joan Simon, professor in the Department of Natural Products, Plant Biology and Edaphology and coordinator of the Teaching Innovation Group in Botany Applied to Pharmaceutical Sciences (GIBAF). Professors Carles Benedí, Maria Bosch, Ana Rovira and Cèsar Blanché, from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the UB, and the technical teams of the Health, Safety and Environmental Issues Office (OSSMA) and the Unit of Building Works and Maintenance of the UB have participated in the project too.
Disseminating natural values and sustainability training
A group of 135 students have participated actively in the project within the subject Pharmaceutical Botany, of the degree in Pharmacy. They have elaborated the informative card which can be consulted through QR codes.
The project is part of the proposal of the Curricular Sustainability Group of the CRUE sector committee on the use of service-learning as a methodology to work on sustainability and university social responsibility competences. Moreover, it is included in the Sustainability Plan of the UB, to be exact, in the strategic lines of preservation and dissemination of natural values and curricular sustainability.