New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Initiative category

Identify the award category for which this initiative is being submitted
Reconnecting with nature

Email user
info@vceli-svicky.eu

Basic information
Initiative title
Excursion on a bee farm

Full initiative Title
Excursion on a bee farm

Please provide a short, catchy description of your initiative to be used in communication towards the public.
We offer interactive tours on the bee farm. Part of the excursion is not only an engaging and entertaining talk about the life of bees, but also direct contact with bees, a demonstration of several types of (even unusual) beehives and the use of bee products - honey, mead, beeswax, etc. We have a total of four types of excursions: in 1) for kindergartens, 2) for primary and secondary schools, 3) VIP for individuals, couples and families and 4) for the public.

What was the geographical scope of your intiative?
National

Where was your intiative implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Czechia

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
The activity is for the entire Czech Republic - it is located in the Usti region, the town of Ustek

Does your initiative address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your initiative refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your initiative benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your initiative won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Does your initiative has a minimum level of maturity? The minimum level of maturity is exemplified by stakeholder/ initiative promoter commitment to implement the initiative in practice and a clear methodology /approach.
Yes

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual
Please provide the contact details for the intiative promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the intiative).
- First name: Andrea
  Last name: Novotná
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Czechia
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Dubicna 30
  Town: Ustek
  Postal code: 41145
  Country: Czechia
  Direct Tel: +420 723 933 559
  E-mail: info@vceli-svicky.eu
  Website: https://vceli-svicky.eu
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://www.facebook.com/AnnKas.vceli.farma
In case my initiative is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my initiative in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
ICUK - Innovation centre of the Usti region ´(partner of the New European Bauhaus)

Description of the initiative
Please provide a summary of your initiative
Description of excursions:1) Kindergarten children play a beehive game-girls(bee workers) and boys (drons). The work is controlled by the mother (queen)- a girl with a problem of fitting into the team. I also talk about the life of bees, bee products, and show photo frames from the hive. I will divide the children into 2 groups. 1.dressed in suits, goes to the bees (we have glass beehives - honey cow and goat, extension, lying, Warré, etc.), each child gets a frame with live bees and a dron on their hand. I take photos to give to the teachers. 2.makes beeswax candles. Subsequently, the groups are swapped. 2) Primary and secondary school students - first I talk about the life of bees, their interesting features with a demonstration of photo frames and beekeeping tools. Furthermore, the activity takes place in the same way as in kindergarten (2 groups). Excursions for children are discounted in order to educate as many children as possible. I use Apihouse for excursions. I have experienced that children who are ADHD and have various degrees of disability become calmer in Apihouse, are able to sit still, and are more involved. During the 5 years over 150 classes passed through the farm, including children with special needs. The excursion lasts 2-2.5 hours and the max. is 24 children/group. 3) Families, individuals, couples (VIP Excursion). It includes an engaging talk about the life of bees, beekeeping with a demonstration of photo frames and beekeeping tools. Also tasting mead, making candles and also honey. Clients are dressed in suits and can take an active look into the life of bees, hold the frames, caress the tubes, try the work in the hive. I send photos from the excursion to clients. The excursion lasts 2-3 hours. 4) Public – groups of up to 25 people, interested in information about bees, beekeeping and demonstrations of hives and bees through a glass window. It is only a lecture and a demonstration of the apiary with various beehives, including herb garden.

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with 5 key words.
Garden

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Bees

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Children

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Education

Please indicate the main themes of your initiative with key words
Excursion

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of sustainability and how these have been/will be met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
The key objective of this activity was education in the field of bee life, beekeeping (beekeeping) and further in the field of nature care, or improvement of bee living conditions (varied grazing, reduction of swarm destruction, better access to nature). This activity has been going on for 5 years and our bee farm has already been visited by over 150 classes, i.e. over 3000 children, as well as at least 50 VIP excursions by adults. At the same time, some of the participants of the excursion have become beekeepers, with whom we are in constant contact and continue to educate them further (for better living conditions for the bees in their area). Also a large number of clients have started to take care of their health and use bee products. We have this knowledge from the feedback of our clients.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
The excursions are particularly special because they take place in the Apihouse, they have a comprehensive and individual approach and during them it is possible to get to know the life of bees in several different types of hives. A photographic record is made of the entire excursion, so clients often take away 50 photographs as a souvenir. At the same time, the owner, who guides the excursions, is a certified apitherapist and a graduated beekeeper (SOUV Nasavrky). She also has a university degree in pedagogy and psychology, supplemented by education in Zootherapy for children with PAS and Zootherapy in general. This allows her to engage all age groups in a non-violent way, including children with different needs. Her husband is a trained beekeeper, which guarantees qualified information not only about the life of bees, but also about beekeeping. People who are interested in beekeeping have the opportunity to be trained on our farm and to get a beehive with basic equipment. We also help them to get started with advice over the phone, online or in person. So far we have "educated" about 36 new beekeepers and even older beekeepers are inspired by us. Likewise, children often get into beekeeping groups after our excursion and continue to learn about the life of bees.

Please give information about the key objectives of your initiative in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the initiative can be exemplary in this context.
As far as affordability is concerned, individual excursions are priced according to the target group. The cheapest option is for schools, as their funding does not allow them to invest large sums in this educational activity (especially if they have to include transport from more distant places in the Czech Republic). Also reflected here is the fact that this is a large group being educated at one time. The medium price is for the public who are interested in information and a tour of non-traditional hives, but there is no need for individual attention (there may be several different groups at once). The most expensive, of course, is the individual approach, i.e. a VIP tour that includes tastings, gifts, production, and individual attention to the needs of the group or individual. Some of these VIP clients are interested in information about apitherapy, others are preparing for bee keeping, while others are just interested in the life of bees. The subsequent excursion is tailored to all this.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the initiative and civil society have been/will be involved in the initiative and what has been/will be the impact of this involvement on the initiative
As far as affordability is concerned, individual excursions are priced according to the target group. The cheapest option is for schools, as their funding does not allow them to invest large sums in this educational activity (especially if they have to include transport from more distant places in the Czech Republic). Also reflected here is the fact that this is a large group being educated at one time. The medium price is for the public who are interested in information and a tour of non-traditional hives, but there is no need for individual attention (there may be several different groups at once). The most expensive, of course, is the individual approach, i.e. a VIP tour that includes tastings, gifts, production, and individual attention to the needs of the group or individual. Some of these VIP clients are interested in information about apitherapy, others are preparing for bee keeping, while others are just interested in the life of bees. The subsequent excursion is tailored to all this.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the initiative.
Neither the local government nor the private sector was involved in the idea/initiative. It was my personal initiative. Over time, I started to work with educational institutions (e.g. primary and secondary schools) and put a lot of emphasis on feedback from clients. This feedback and ideas have been key to improving the activities and programmes we run at Apihouse.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your initiative. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
During the implementation of this activity I drew on the knowledge I have acquired in the field of beekeeping, apitherapy and education of children and adults. At the same time, I was also inspired by beekeeping colleagues from abroad, namely from Slovakia, Slovenia, Portugal and Russia. I see the added value in the diversity and unique ideas that, when combined, have generated a unique way of delivering the courses.

Please highlight the innovative character of the initiative, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the initiative
Due to the fact that the whole concept of excursions is my idea, it is a unique way of implementation. I don't know of any similar excursion organizer who would combine the uniqueness of Apihouse with playful elements, engaging and entertaining narration about the life of bees and interesting facts about them, with an interactive part (it is possible to take in your hand not only the whole frame with live bees, but also to stroke the drones - all with professional preparation so as not to endanger the clients). No one offers group dressing up in bee suits for kindergarten children as well (we have a total of 15 suits for little ones and 15 suits for big ones and adults). These excursions can be combined with the possibility of using bee products - making candles from beeswax interstitials (we make them ourselves in 11 colour variations), honey and mead tasting. And all this with the possibility of adding information about the use of bee products in the field of health.

Please describe which elements of your initiative could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
All elements are transferable. It is only necessary for the person to be educated in these areas - the life of bees, beekeeping, apitherapy. It is also necessary to have basic teaching skills. There is also an opportunity to present the construction of an Apihouse or other indoor space with a bee demonstration. You just need to have the desire and enthusiasm to learn and be creative.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your initiative.
During the excursions, I started to use my gradually acquired knowledge in the field of beekeeping, bee life, gardening, pedagogy, andragogy, apitherapy, and recently also in the approach to people with disabilities (deaf, autism spectrum disorders, mental retardation). At the same time, I have taken seriously the feedback of my existing clients and have modified their suggestions and added to the concept of education. The key is to take an individual approach to the individual or group and tailor the specific excursion to their wishes and needs.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the initiative addresses by providing local solutions
The global challenge is knowledge of bee life, beekeeping and bee products. Children already know that honey is not produced in a shop, but that bees produce it and how much effort it takes. They know how to treat the bees, how to support them and, if necessary, how to keep them. The global challenge is knowing how to help oneself in the area of health. Excursions that focus on apitherapy, and other excursions that mention bee products, motivate clients to use healthy bee products instead of chemical and expensive drugs, to help themselves with bee products instead of unnecessary visits to the doctor with simple problems. The global challenge is to return to nature as such, to know the interconnection between man and nature, to know the benefits of healthy nature.

Please detail the scope of progress in the implementation of the initiative. This can include already demonstrated results/outputs related to the chosen Prizes category, and the already achieved benefits from the initiative for direct and indirect beneficiaries. This can also include a development plan of the initiative, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application, and including envisaged results and benefits from the initiative
During the excursions, we received two awards - Regional Experience of the Bohemian Central Highlands and Rural Experience in Agrotourism - see attachments. Also, the fact that every year we receive more and more visitors and it is already very difficult to find free dates (as excursions can only take place in May-September), confirms that we are doing our job well. The feedback also confirms this. In the future, we plan to add to the arboretum of herbs - nectarivorous and pollen-bearing plants by adding descriptions of individual herbs, a QR code with information about the herbs, but also by connecting these herbs with bees and apitherapy (e.g. hawthorn honey - ideal for supporting heart disease). At the same time, in the attachments I also include a pdf of the offer for kindergartens and primary schools, including an overview of each activity and price list, photos.

Please provide documents that demonstrate the maturity level of the initiative and commitment to implement the initiative in practice (e.g.: evaluation report, final or mid-term initiative report, certification, publications, building permit, grant agreement, letter of support, partnership agreement, etc.)
Both
PDF
Web link
- https://www.vceli-svicky.eu/Workshopy-exkurze-c34_0_1.htm
If relevant, please describe how your initiative contributes to developing new competences, especially in the context of the European competence framework on sustainability.
Not relevant.
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images or visual representations of your initiative to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below.
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By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed initiative has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the initiative and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their initiatives, initiative, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted initiative, initiative is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes