Surprisingly, scientific evidence confirms that urban environments are more favourable for bees than rural areas. This phenomenon is primarily driven by polluted soil and water, stemming from pesticide use, monoculture, and habitat destruction. Bees have essentially become refugees, seeking shelter and sustenance. This predicament was tackled both conceptually and practically during the 2014 BeeCare symposium, “The Inner City as a Nature Reserve,” uniting experts from ecology, sociology, and policy-making. To prevent the extinction of diverse wild bee species, a collective understanding is crucial, treating them as refugees in need of sustenance and shelter: the RefuBee initiative.

Together with a group of students from the HKU (University of the Arts in Utrecht) we are working on an intervention in public space, manifested here on a square in an Amsterdam neighbourhood.

Image: B.D.Jonk