Biodiversity and pollinators are essential for our lives.
They represent a healthy society that we must aspire for our future.
Sharing ecological practices in a creative way; promoting beehives designed by local artists; stimulate talent and good practices on youth and woman; social impact on local community. For fragile people this activity can strengthen their sense of belonging.
Beekeeping can build social solidarity, new vocations and wellbeing that belongs to all European countries.

Two peripherical areas Milano: immigrants area of ORTICA; working class area of LAINATE.

The peripheral areas subject of this project are placed next to railway lines. Both have uncultivated fields, degraded green areas reduced to illegal dump. Social context: the areas lies in dense districts, populated by many immigrants from North Africa, Philippines, China. This multi-ethnic community lacks integration as there are few opportunities and places where to meet. Therefore living together is difficult and the social decay has a bad influence on the perception of collective security. A sheared green area with community gardens and beekeeping practice is positive and can become a good social place for meeting and activities.

GREEN ISLAND FOR PEOPLE is a social and green project facing the urge to create alternative activities for fragile people (ie: youth and woman, who have lost their jobs cause this pandemic crisis); the urge to build new motivations and practice a healthier life; the urge to save the bees and the urban biodiversity, and to regenerate disused spaces with a cultural vocation. A special attention is paid to women, in the sense of social integration, offering them the opportunity to learn a useful activity for the environment and for their own family. In fact, beekeeping could become a new form of income, especially in this period of post-Covid 19 economic difficulties.

The areas housing the hives reclaims abandoned green spaces, to be returned it to citizens creating new vegetable gardens, thus expanding the notion of public space and public sphere. The experience and knowledge of this healthy practice can be widely disseminated throughout Europe (without limits of boundaries, gender, age, skill, social class) with also a publication/e-book. The project is innovative and imaginative, because it carries out a strong social impact on cohesiveness and environment education, setting the foundations for an enduring social experience to orient the transformative opportunity of a more inclusive society.

The project is transgenerational, transcultural and multidisciplinary. It invites elder people to transfer their knowledge and skills to younger people, to women, to families. The experience lived by the community is then linked to the need of a narration, which can be created through the production of a collective publication/ e-book, a sort of ‘Community Green Tribune’.

GREEN ISLAND FOR PEOPLE is created to promote an investigation on contemporary landscapes, providing a dialogue between community and territory, art and ecology. Beehives are created by different local artists and designers, focused on collective eco-friendly practices, on the safeguard of bees and on the awareness of the honey as healthy food. An important reflection on the relation between human being and environment. Beekeeping is a positive idea of freedom and belonging, for an active and passionate participation of citizens to safeguard biodiversity and to take care of each other (like a swarm in the beehive), to grow flowers useful for pollinators and vegetables useful for their family.

Beekeeping is a very relevant social and ecological activity. It can build social solidarity, new vocations and wellbeing for fragile people. In our organization we practice beeking and solidarity, therefore we’re aware of its strong importance and urgency. Art and creativity as a phenomenon of social transformation. We’re committed to a more conscious society, in which ecological and solidary aspect are of primary importance.
It is a project where plants, people and impollinators can cooperate for the vision of new landscapes. To raise awareness of socio-environmental issues and to strengthen the necessary skills of individuals and the community.

Bee Hives productions and installations €10.000
Flower beds for pollinators and vegetable gardens €8.000
Workshops and training courses for family, kids and women €9.000
Small publication on community bee keeping, training/e-book €12.000

We would like to know if our proposal is matching the common interest of different European communities, if we can expand our field of action in other EU countries.