Environmental Education Research | This paper explores a novel approach to educational botanic gardens through a case study of the Eden Project Cornwall (EPC), a visitor attraction that challenges the pedagogical strategies of many botanical gardens. By studying the design of real-world biomes, we trace how the leadership team understands its educational niche within a broader environmental learning ecosystem. Drawing on situated insider knowledge from the leadership team and qualitative data from on-site observation, we understand EPC as a site that works to desettle the human-nature binary, affording sensory interactions and reflections on belonging to nature through immersive, sensory design. We find that the destination site engages multi-modal and place-based learning through both on-site design and off-site programs and events. The implications of this work underscore the potential of educational gardens to reimagine relationships with the living world through art, place-based pedagogy, and sensory affordances. Yet we observe tensions between EPC’s mission and its operational practice, suggesting limitations to this model. Nonetheless, we conclude that EPC lays out a unique model for reimagining the pedagogical possibilities of educational gardens and science institutions.

READ.