Networks and cities' news

Four transfer cities learning logs

All four cities that transferred Ljubljana good practice wrote a learning log on their urban beekeeping good practice transfer. It is a document revealing how they did it and what learnt and accomplished. Transformation on an individual, institutional and city level is presented and additionally, how it reflects on an international level. One can learn how different the starting points for each city were and some of the obstacles they needed to overcome in order to transfer the good practice. Find out how it happened in Bansko (Bulgaria), Bergamo (Italy), Osijek (Croatia) and Sosnowiec (Poland).

Read all about the achievements of the BeePathNet Reloaded network in our last newsletter

The Bee Path Cities - good for pollinators and therefore good for people

The Bee Path Cities network – a network of urban authorities that have come together under the shared vision of creating cities that are good for pollinators and therefore good for people was established in October 2022. Listen to five mayors explaining the greening changes in their neighbourhoods fostered by seeking to understand, adapt, re-use and upgrade the inspiring Ljubljana (Slovenia) ‘Bee Path’ practice. Learn what the Bee Path City network philosophy stands for and how to join HERE.

Guidelines for cities to evolve into a Bee Path City

We developed guidelines – tools for cities that would like to evolve into a Bee Path City. There is a short edition “Evolving into a Bee Path City” (issued in 2022) where we summarise all key aspects of our transfer journey. It is meant to encourage new cities to follow our steps and, hopefully, read the full version of the guidelines. With special support of URBACT it was translated into 12 languages.

Full guidelines “The evolution steps toward a Bee-friendly city’” (issued in 2020) is a comprehensive almost five times thicker manual for urban authorities that would like to take action on sustainable environment and biodiversity management that is based on pollinator protection. It is available just in English.

Final conference: EU cities – good for BEES is good for PEOPLE, a transformation into green sustainable cities and launch of Bee Path Cities network

The final conference titled 'EU cities - good for BEES is good for PEOPLE, a transformation into green sustainable cities’ was the conclusion of the transfer of sustainable urban beekeeping knowledge from Ljubljana to nine EU cities (BeePathNet and BeePathNet Reloaded). The event that took place in Ljubljana (25th October 2022) joined residents of over 45 cities and 17 different countries worldwide either in person or virtually. It was also the official launch of the international network of Bee Path Cities – the movement that will continue to promote the vision of creating cities that are “good for pollinators and therefore good for people” beyond the project. Conference presentations and videos including the Philosophy of Bee Path Cities and guidelines for new cities to implement the movement are available on network web page.

Final words of Maruška Markovčič Ljubljana BEE PATH’s initiator, the Queen Bee of urban beekeeping knowledge transfer and Bee Path Cities international network, from the City of Ljubljana:

“I see this as a new beginning of new times!

Everybody is a spokesperson. Take the Bee Path Cities Philosophy and invite cities to join.

Thank you for swarming with us!”.

Cluster development and smart specialisation at city level

The cluster approach is acknowledged as the most influential one in modern industrial policy worldwide, and the arrival of smart specialisation has emphasized its influence. But, why? How might local authorities take advantage of this momentum to enhance their role as facilitators of cluster initiatives? What new drivers are now working in the field of cluster development? This article gives us the opportunity to introduce some concepts associated to smart specialisation illustrated by examples from the In Focus network cities.

Clusters and priority domains