Serena Dorigotti
Serena is a Senior Educator in Botany at L’Orto in Villa Botanic Garden. Over the last 10 years, she has designed and developed 26 new inspiring education activities for schools and over 60 events for the public which have engaged a wide range of audiences. She is committed to making plants relevant to the public, highlighting their use in everyday life and the importance of their conservation for sustainability. Popular topics of her events have included traditional and innovative use of plants in food and lifestyle, biodiversity tasting, natural dyes, plant hunting, berries festival, the use of hemp and flax ans even an action drama using vegetables for kids. Serena has contributed to the EU project INQUIRE, encouraging fruitful exchanges with educators from 16 other Botanic Gardens across Europe. She regularly builds capacity for education in botanic gardens across Italy, running workshops and presenting new ideas.
Since 2020, she has been developing a community garden in the suburbs of Trento, working with volunteers to engage locals and illustrate the importance of agrobiodiversity. She has been innovative in providing a range of activities for children and adults alike, which have engaged them in botanic conservation within the community. Serena has been crucial to raising the status of botanic garden education in Italy and regularly feeds innovative experience to the national network of botanic gardens.