Agents of Discovery has enjoyed working closely with Brisbane City Council’s environment centres. We touched base with Dr. Christine Buckius, an Assistant Curator in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, to see some of the key benefits her organization has gleaned from working with Agents of Discovery.
During the lockdown, Brisbane City Council created ‘Backyard Missions’ that families could do from their homes. They changed the theme of the Challenge every fortnight, and the statistics showed an increase in downloads of their Missions. This was a great way for Brisbane City Council to still deliver environmental education remotely while closed, and encourage the community to get outside and explore their backyards or local parks.
“We have had a positive working experience with the Agents of Discovery team. We receive great personal support from the team from the creation of Missions to promotion materials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Agents of Discovery team quickly adapted the platform so that individuals could access Missions and Challenges from home. This allowed us to still engage with our local community while our Environment Centres were closed.”
Dr Christine Buckius | Assistant Curator
Brisbane Botanic Gardens | Mount Coot-tha and Sherwood Arboretum Asset Services
Brisbane Infrastructure | Brisbane City Council
Once Brisbane City Council facilities re-opened after the lockdown, they could only have a certain number of people in the Centres-and this has fluctuated since May 2020. They have found that the app is a great option for people to partake in while waiting for their turn to come inside the Centre. While people were waiting in line to go inside the display area, their staff encouraged guests to take a walk with the Agents of Discovery app.
“We have seen an increase in the Brisbane community using their green spaces and natural reserves since the beginning of the pandemic. Agents of Discovery has provided us the ability to educate the community while they are in these green spaces, even if we aren’t present at the Environment Centres.”
“We enjoy the flexibility of changing missions based on relevant environmental issues or topics; for example, this year we created a Plastic Free July mission that was at all three Environment Centres. We were able to incorporate the missions with our Plastic Free July workshops. The diversity and variety of the use of the app allows us reach a wider community, as it provides a different experience for new and repeat customers.”
Dr Christine Buckius | Assistant Curator
Brisbane Botanic Gardens | Mount Coot-tha and Sherwood Arboretum Asset Services
Brisbane Infrastructure | Brisbane City Council
“The Agents of Discovery platform is a brilliant engaging educational app that encourages people of all ages to explore their local green spaces and environment in a new way.”
Dr Christine Buckius | Assistant Curator
Brisbane Botanic Gardens | Mount Coot-tha and Sherwood Arboretum Asset Services
Brisbane Infrastructure | Brisbane City Council