The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is committed to being inclusive, equitable and accessible to all. We acknowledge inequality in our society, its reflection within our organisation and are actively working to tackle injustice and discrimination. 

These are our current actions:  

Telling our Story

We are working to decolonise our collections, telling our story in a way that acknowledges links to colonialism and historical racism within our Living Collection of Plants and our Preserved Collections including the Herbarium, Library, Archives and Art Collections.

Access to our Collections

Open access to the collections in our care is a priority. Further digitisation of our Preserved Collections, offering easy access that supports global scientific and cultural research, is a focus of our new Biodiversity Strategy.

Collaborative working

We are an international organisation working collaboratively around the world in over 55 countries. We respect the interests of those with whom we work and are committed to our partners’ safety, dignity and human rights. Our Research Ethics Policy can be viewed online. 

Our People

We are advertising our job vacancies through new channels to reach Black and people of colour and other groups currently under-represented in our organisation. We are creating opportunities to enter, progress and lead in our sector - from the development of apprenticeships, work exchanges and secondments, supported by our mentoring scheme, to creating diversity at board level. 

Equity at a Strategic Level

Launched in June 2021, our new five-year Strategy Responding to the Biodiversity Crisis and Climate Emergency includes objectives to embed racial justice, equity and inclusion across our organisation.

Shaping our Culture

We are consulting at every level with our colleagues, students, volunteers and external partners, sharing historical and cultural knowledge about our collections and encouraging new perspectives that will help to shape our inclusive, anti-racist culture for the future.

Inclusive to All

A Garden for all, we welcome everybody.  We recognise the interconnecting inequalities faced by many people, including racism, sexism and discrimination linked to sexuality, disability and class. We are creating new opportunities so that everyone can engage with us and enjoy the benefits. Read our Access Policy.

More to Follow

We are working to consolidate our actions, making recommendations for future change. Further updates will be published on this page soon.

For comments, please contact equity@rbge.org.uk