Abstract

University campuses with native vegetation function as living botanical gardens, biodiversity laboratories and curated plant collections, sharing core missions with formal botanical institutions: floristic inventory, in situ and ex situ plant conservation, scientific interpretation, environmental education and biodiversity stewardship. Against this backdrop, limited plant awareness—the tendency to overlook and undervalue plants in one’s surroundings—remains a structural challenge in botany teaching. This article proposes the floristic inventory of the Tulcán campus (Universidad del Cauca, Popayán, Colombia) as the core of a pedagogical strategy that operates the campus as a non-formal botanical educational institution. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was applied: (1) ecological inventory across 25 systematic field trips during 2025; (2) educational design with faculty validation; and (3) a pilot with 142 undergraduate students of Biology and Environmental Engineering. We recorded 160 species in 65 families (83% native, including endemic and threatened taxa); designed a four-component strategy (cooperative field research, biocultural connection, applied plant ecology, interpretive trails); and observed a descriptive performance gradient favouring field-immersive courses, together with qualitative patterns consistent with limited plant awareness. The Tulcán campus can be intentionally managed as a living botanical garden delivering inventory, conservation, interpretation and education functions.

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