Horizon projects on pollinators

Building on Horizon 2020, the European Commission strives to strengthen the support for pollinator research needs in the current EU research framework programme for the 2021-2027 period. The Cluster 6 Work Programme, for example, has one ‘destination’ to boost practices in agriculture and forestry that support the sustainable use of biodiversity and a wide range of ecosystem services. Projects aim to preserve and restore biodiversity and essential ecosystems while ensuring resilient primary production through, for example, crop breeding, crop diversification and biodiversity-friendly practices in agroecosystems. There are also opportunities in other parts of the work programme.

Find some examples of projects below

The B-THENET Thematic Network has set up a digital platform for European beekeepers. The goal is to collect good beekeeping practices and innovations and share them (in 15 languages) among beekeepers, advisors, and other stakeholders. It aims to foster discussions and harmonisation of Best Beekeeping Practices in Europe on national and international levels. Find out more in the project video. If you missed the webinar on ‘Veterinary Medicinal Products in European Beekeeping’, you can rewatch the full event online.

PoshBee is a Horizon project which has recently ended. The aim was to support healthy bee populations, sustainable beekeeping and pollination across Europe, looking specifically at how chemicals, alone, in mixtures, and in combination with pathogens and nutrition, affect the health of managed and wild bees. The project's scientific findings are available in its ‘stakeholder summaries’, which explain a number of solutions in an accessible and applicable way. Watch videos summarising the main activities, as well as a set of training videos. This material, and more, can be found on a dedicated section on the project website.

BeeGuards aims to strengthen the resilience of the European beekeeping sector by providing sustainable management practices, novel breeding strategies and digital and forecasting tools that allow the sector to adapt to a changing environment. Listen to the first episode of the project podcast, which explains the aim of the project

The mission of EuropaBON - Europa Biodiversity Observation Network - was to overcome existing data gaps and workflow bottlenecks by designing an EU-wide framework for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services. Watch a summary of this project’s activities in the past year. EuropaBON is hosting its final Stakeholder Conference on 27-28 May 2024 in Brussels, Belgium.

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