The Department of Botany and Plant Biology at the University of Geneva held various events to celebrate Fascination of Plants Day 2015, including educational activities for school children and an evening debate for the public. During the morning, over 50 school children learned about plant evolution through an interactive game and observed plant collections. Students also acted as scientists investigating tomato domestication and extracting tomato DNA. The evening debate among experts addressed challenges for modern agriculture, alternatives to GMOs and pesticides, and new sustainable strategies. Around 100 people participated in the debate and subsequent poster session.

1. Fascination of Plants Day 2015 - Success story summary
In
order
to
celebrate
the
Fascination
of
Plants
Day
2015,
the
Department
of
Botany
and
Plant
Biology
(Département
de
botanique
et
biologie
végétale,
BIVEG)
of
the
University
of
Geneva
(UNIGE)
opened
its
doors
to
schools
and
to
the
broad
public,
offering
a
series
of
events
focused
on
the
world
of
plants.
During
the
morning
activities
at
BIVEG,
more
than
50
school
children
were
able
to
appreciate
how
plants
can
evolve
and
differentiate,
taking
advantage
of
an
innovative
game
developed
by
the
joint
efforts
of
the
Botanical
Garden
of
Geneva
(Conservatoire
et
Jardin
Botanique,
CJB),
BiOutils,
the
life
sciences
communication
platform
of
the
UNIGE
(http://www.bioutils.ch)
and
the
École
de
l’ADN
from
Nîmes
(http://www.ecole-­‐adn.fr/).
This
game,
called
Trivial
Evolution:
Les
plantes,
has
allowed
students
to
playfully
discover
the
phylogenetic
relations
among
some
of
the
most
common
plants
found
in
the
CJB.
An
extended
activity
of
this
game
was
also
proposed,
with
more
than
20
students
who
played
the
game
directly
observing
the
plants
of
the
living
collections
at
CJB.
In
addition,
thanks
to
the
Bioscope,
the
life
sciences
outreach
public
lab
of
the
UNIGE
(http://www.bioscope.ch),
students
were
able
to
act
as
scientists
for
the
day
investigating
the
story
of
one
of
the
most
famous
vegetables
that
reaches
our
tables:
tomatoes.
Such
an
experiment,
designed
and
developed
specifically
for
this
event,
has
been
a
great
success
among
students,
who
discovered
the
steps
involved
in
the
plant-­‐domestication
process.
Moreover,
thanks
to
a
simple
and
engaging
protocol,
students
were
able
to
extract
DNA
from
tomatoes,
learning
the
first
steps
of
molecular
biology
applied
to
plants.
In
the
evening,
the
debate
opened
to
the
broad
public
“Green
Revolution:
errors
of
the
past,
challenges
of
the
future”
was
held
in
order
to
address
real
challenges
of
modern
agriculture.
In
this
context,
during
his
introduction,
Dr
Marco
Barzman,
Research
Engineer
at
INRA
(France)
and
specialist
of
crop
protection
and
agroecology,
presented
the
benefits
and
undesired
effects
of
the
original
Green
Revolution,
before
opening
the
debate
on
future
strategies
aiming
at
reconciling
production,
durability
and
nutritional
value.
The
needs
of
today’s
consumers
and
agriculture
were
broached
by
Dr
Sylvain
Aubry,
scientific
consultant
on
green
biotechnologies
at
the
Federal
Office
of
Agriculture
(Switzerland),
and
Mr.
Benoît
Ducret,
expert
in
the
agrochemical
industry
and
founder
of
a
company
of
products
and
services
in
this
field.
The
alternatives
to
Genetically
Modified
Plants
(GMPs)
and
to
the
large-­‐scale
use
of
pesticides
were
also
evoked
by
Prof.
Christian
Fankhauser,
researcher
at
the
Center
of
Integrative
Genomics
(Switzerland)
in
the
area
of
plant
molecular
genetics,
and
Dr
Luigi
D'
Andrea,
Executive
Secretary
of
the
association
StopOGM
(Switzerland).
The
participants
also
discussed
about
new
strategies
to
be
developed
regarding
sustainable
and
environment-­‐friendly
crop
production,
as
well
as
improving
the
access
to
resources.
Diverse
approaches
were
emphasized,
including
Integrated
Pest
Management
(IPM),
agroecology,
as
well
as
new
high-­‐tech
options
(such
as
information
technologies,
nanotechnologies
or
robotics).
Following
the
debate,
an
aperitif
took
place,
during
which
each
laboratory
of
BIVEG
presented
its
research
field
to
the
broad
public
via
a
poster
session.
About
100
people
participated
in
this
90
minute
debate
and
in
the
following
poster
session.