The FLOR Herbarium: heritage of Santa Catarina society Mayara Krasinski Caddah, André Geremia Parise, Artur Espíndola, Raquel Rohden, Rennan Lopes Chagas

Abstract

Biological collections are fundamental in documenting and preserving biodiversity. However, herbaria around the world have been suffering from serious cuts in resources and personnel, in part due to lack of knowledge and lack of appreciation of collections by the general community. The FLOR Herbarium at the Federal University of Santa Catarina is one of the main scientific collections in southern Brazil, housing specimens of plants, fungi and algae. Recently, the university extension project “The FLOR Herbarium as a heritage of Santa Catarina society: curation of the collection and space for scientific education” has been bringing together teachers and students with the aim of operationalizing the social role of the herbarium and presenting and publicizing its activities and that of the Department. of Botany at UFSC to the local community, in addition to assisting in collection curation activities. Among the main results obtained so far is the production of a booklet containing suggestions for activities to be developed with students when visiting herbaria, available on the Herbarium FLOR website. These activities include not only visiting the collection, but also activities using the department's alternative spaces and equipment, such as gardens and laboratories with magnifying glasses, in order to expand the visitors' experience. The university extension activities planned and carried out in the context of the Herbarium FLOR involve different characters, spaces and materials, and have thus allowed better use of the social potential of the herbarium, in a more effective and potentially transformative way than the traditional relationship between collections. with the community.