The UCC Arboretum was established as a teaching and research tool for Queen's College Cork and ultimately University College Cork. Despite the collection being altered greatly through the years, it's role as a tool to support the academic work of the university has remained steadfast.

Botanic gardens and arboreta have been used for centuries as educational tools and there is good evidence that learning in such spaces have significant benefits for short and long-term knowledge gain. The work of the UCC Arboretum team is based around the principle that arboreta represent a collection of living organisms acting as ambassadors for their, often endangered, wild relative and that teaching and learning in such settings "can upen up opportunites to revisit complex questions about human relationships to, and impacts on, other species" (Sanders et al., 2018).

Botanic gardens and arboreta have been used for centuries as educational tools and there is good evidence that learning in such spaces have significant benefits for short and long-term knowledge gain. The work of the UCC Arboretum team is based around the principle that arboreta represent a collection of living organisms acting as ambassadors for their, often endangered, wild relative and that teaching and learning in such settings "can upen up opportunites to revisit complex questions about human relationships to, and impacts on, other species" (Sanders et al., 2018).

In formulating out teaching and learning approach, we are mindful of the UCC Academic Strategy, a priority of which is to deliver 'outstanding, student-centred teaching and learning experiences, with a renewed, responsive and research-based curriculum at its core'.

Currently, activities within the UCC Arboretum are emebedded within two undergraduate module, one in the School of BEES: PS3019; and another in the School of Pharmacy School of Pharmacy: PF3016. These two modules, focussing on the medicinal and other industrial uses of bioactive plant compounds (e.g. in brewing, food production, etc.) allow the team's research interests to be directly embedded into the curriculum, as envisioned by the UCC Academic Strategy. The team has a range of research interests but pertinent to this activity, Dr Doyle Prestwich has an active research group that looks at the production of bioactive plant products through conventional and biotechnological approaches. Dr Eoin Lettice has an active research group looking at the benefits of urban trees for sustainable development and mitigating the effects of climate change.

There are significant benefits to student performance and well-being that are accrued when teaching and learning happens in green spaces. UCC students that participated in activities within the UCC Arboretum as part of their studies were positive about their experiences:

Student A: “walking through the main gates each day I pass one of the rarest trees in the world without even knowing it”

Student B: "Possibly the most enjoyable aspect of any module we’ve had so far."  

Student C: “I had never thought of trees in UCC being of pharmaceutical/research importance and thus I found really interesting to learn!” 

Student D: "it was really enjoyable - a welcome break from the books" 

The arboretum team are currently exploring other opportunities to involve the UCC Arboretum and its collection in other modules and courses across the disciplines at UCC.

Another project linked to the Trees of UCC is the Phenoclimate Project