Safeguard’s policy brief featured on CORDIS

Recently, an article titled ‘Pollinators, biodiversity and sustainable development go hand in hand’ was published on the European Commission’s platform CORDIS. The piece presents Safeguard’s policy brief, highlighting the vital relationship between pollinating insects and the UN’s Sustainable Develo (...)

Revision of the EU Pollinators Initiative: A new deal for pollinators

On 24 January 2023, the European Commission presented a revised action framework for the 2018 EU Pollinators Initiative. The revision sets out a path for the EU to meet the challenge of pollinator decline and its consequences on food security, human health, quality of life and ecosystems. Together w (...)

The magical world of pollinators around us

On 17. January 2023, Safeguard partner Dr. Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki of the Centre for Ecological Research (OK) gave a public presentation in Budapest, Hungary. The presentation titled ‘The magical world of pollinators around us’ focused on the results of an ongoing monitoring study in the bee pastur (...)

Safeguard's highlights: 2022 at a glance

2023 is here and the Safeguard team can't wait to see what it will bring us! Would you like to know what Safeguard achieved last year? Let's take a look back on some of our most notable accomplishments from 2022. With this video we also want to express our gratitude to the audience for their support (...)

Welcome to the Safeguard team, Willem!

Safeguard is pleased to present its new post-doctoral researcher! Willem Proesmans is a biologist who obtained his PhD at Ghent University on the role of small forest fragments for wild pollinators in intensive agricultural landscapes. After that, he started a postdoc at the French National Research (...)

Safeguard wishes you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year!

Happy holidays!Photo: Safeguard Holiday card (...)

How to integrate pollinator conservation objectives into urban greening plans: Safeguard workshop

On 8 December, Safeguard held its first EU policy workshop "Urban greening for pollinators: from policy to practice" in collaboration with EuroCities and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. The goal was to identify how to integrate pollinator conservation objectives into urban greening pla (...)

Fostering policy dialogue and knowledge exchange of pollinator protection: new Safeguard policy brief

Safeguard released its first policy brief in occassion of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15). It was distributed at a side event and was showcased at the EU commission's stand. The side event – titled “Pollinator protection: strengt (...)

Functional traits of plants and pollinators explain resource overlap between honeybees and wild pollinators

Honeybees have been introduced worldwide, and, therefore, often cohabit with wild pollinators. As their hives can host more than 50,000 individuals, their abundance in natural and managed habitats can be extremely high. In this context, Safeguard partners observed plant–pollinator interactions in 51 (...)

Safeguard EU policy workshop on urban greening plans and pollinator conservation: call for city officers

Safeguard is organising its first EU policy workshop "Urban greening for pollinators: from policy to practice" in collaboration with EuroCities and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. The event will be held online on 8 December 9:30-14:30 (Brussels time, UTC+1). The EU Biodiversity Strateg (...)

Temperature as the main driver shaping wild bee communities

More than half of the world's population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase. Even if urbanisation is widely regarded as a major threat to global biodiversity, recent research highlighted the potential ecological importance of cities for pollinators. Key determinants of c (...)

EU Pollinators Initiative: expert consultation workshops report available now

In mid-2018, the European Commission adopted the first-ever EU Pollinators Initiative, to enable Member States to address the decline of pollinators in the EU and contribute to global conservation efforts. As part of a broader consultation that collects stakeholder views and proposals in the context (...)

Chinese collaboration project with Safeguard is officially funded

Recently, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (MOST) has announced a key project of "Intergovernmental Cooperation on International Science and Technology Innovation", and our Chinese partners in Safeguard Project have been awarded to participate in this project. (...)

IUCN Red List: Over one third of hoverflies threatened with extinction in Europe

Hoverflies are a large, beautiful, and exceptionally diverse family of insects. As the second most important pollinator group behind bees, they are also essential to our lives, providing an ecosystem service that forms the very foundation of our food system and indeed our lives.According to the firs (...)

Florence Damiens joins Safeguard as a new postdoctoral researcher at SLU

Safeguard is happy to welcome Florence Damiens to the project team! Florence is a social science postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Ecology, SLU University. Florence holds a Master’s degree in Economics and Public Policy from The Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and École (...)

New #WildPollinatorResearch campaign: A focus on the previous research of Safeguard’s experts

Safeguard works hard to substantially contribute to Europe’s capacity to reverse the losses of wild pollinators. To achieve this goal, a diverse research team consisting of world-leading researchers, NGOs, industry and policy experts, joins forces, with each member adding value to the project with t (...)

#SafeguardFaces: new campaign presenting the faces behind the project

At Safeguard, we believe that diversity can drive creativity and innovation. Our team consists of scientists and other professionals, who closely integrate research on ecological, economic, social and policy dimensions of pollinator diversity and multiple ecosystem services. Each member adds value t (...)

Welcome to new post-doc Zafarani Uwingabire!

Zafarani Uwingabire is joining Safeguard as a post-doctoral researcher at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAe), Agroecology Joint Research Unit in Dijon, France. She is interested in the analysis and development of sustainable agricultural and foo (...)

Join the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) webinar!

Promote Pollinators is hosting an online event in technical cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on September 9th at 15:00 CEST. The webinar will focus on Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the practical way of reducing the use of pesticides, one of the m (...)

European Bee Award 2022 edition

Since 2014, the Bee Award is committed to find common solutions for the benefit of biodiversity by rewarding projects protecting pollinators.The European Bee Award is open to everyone.We reward farmers, landowners, research institutes, academia, and private and public organisations who develop outst (...)

Bees and pesticides: EFSA launched a public consultation on their draft guidance document

The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Pesticide Peer Review Unit has launched an open consultation on the draft guidance for bees and pesticides. The new document covers the risk assessment of plant protection products and bees, covering honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees.In 2013, EFSA (...)

Hungary joins the Promote Pollinators Coalition

The pollinators of Europe are facing many challenges. Their preservation is of utmost importance since pollination is essential for the continuing function of natural ecosystems and plays a crucial role in agricultural output. Given the growing attention on the values and conservation of pollinators (...)

A strong proposal for a Nature Restoration Law for EU`s damaged ecosystems

On 22nd June 2022, the Commission adopted pioneering proposals to restore damaged ecosystems and bring nature back across Europe, from agricultural land and seas, to forests and urban environments. Under this proposal for a Nature Restoration Law, legally binding targets for nature restoration (...)

Safeguard’s response to the EU Pollinators Initiative revision consultation

The European Commission held a public consultation to collect views on the implementation of the EU Pollinators Initiative and gather suggestions on how to strengthen the current framework on wild pollinators to meet its long-term objective to reverse the decline of pollinators by 2030.  The Safegua (...)

(2/2) Wildflower Budapest 2021 programme: results and experiences of the first year

Positive experiences:The locally typical plant species were found everywhere (in addition to the species of grass seed mixtures that had been previously sown and species with wide tolerance range that are almost ubiquitous). Protected species have appeared in several places.The best performing areas (...)

(1/2) Wildflower Budapest 2021 programme: results and experiences of the first year

An article presenting the "Wildflower Budapest 2021" project and its first-year results was recently published on the website of the Municipality of Budapest. The research group of Safeguard partner Dr. András Báldi of the Centre for Ecological Research (OK) collaborated in the programme.See the art (...)

Join Safeguard: Open Postdoc Position at the Department of Ecology at SLU

What factors keep pollinator-unfriendly practices in place? A social scientific investigation.The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences offers a PhD-candidate position in close collaboration with the Department of Urban and Rural Development in Uppsala, Sweden. The (...)

OPEN POSITION: PhD vacancy in Asian Honey Bee Ecology at University of Würzburg

The Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, University of Würzburg, invites applications for a postdoc position to support the examination of the foraging ecology and mechanisms of coexistence of Asian honey bee species (A. cerana, A. dorsata, A. florea). The successful candidate will wor (...)

Bee highways: how they work and why we need them

A new article published in The Conversation journal outlines the importance of bee highways in putting a stop to the alarming decline in the insect’s population.Pollinating insects have a crucial role in helping provide the food we eat, the flowers we see and the vast biodiversity on the planet. Bee (...)

New research shows the interactive effects of climate and land use on pollinator diversity

A new research article published in the Science Advances Journal calls for more research attention to the largely unknown interactive effects of changes in climate and land use on pollinating insects. The article, officially published on 6. May 2022, is a collaborative effort of several academic ins (...)

Supporting Ukrainian candidates in future available Safeguard vacancies

Formed by a pan-European consortium (including China), Safeguard promotes transparency and collaboration between its partners and beyond to guarantee the open, multi-disciplinary, and collaborative science across Europe.In relation to this, we would like to express our tremendous solidarity with the (...)

New research: analysing the effects of arable cultivated land on wild pollinating species in Hungary

A new research article by Dr. Anikó Kovacs-Hostyanszki (Centre for Ecological Research, Hungary) outlines the importance of pollinating insects for the overall health of ecosystems in light of the decreasing number of flower plants. Pollinating insects suffer disproportionately from large-scale farm (...)

Opportunity for Early Career Professionals: Student Conference on Conservation Science SCCS Hungary, 2022

Event summary: SCCS Europe – Connecting Eastern and Western Europe in conservation biology Balatonvilágos (Lake Balaton), Hungary, 14 - 17 September 2022What to expect: We are delighted to invite you to the seventh SCCS Europe in 2022, organised by the Centre for Ecological Research this autumn. SCC (...)

OPEN POSITION: Social science postdoc for co-development of biodiversity enhancing strategies within organic farming at Aarhus University

The Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, invites applications for a postdoc position to support development of social science, and modelling of bees and other animal species within the Social-Ecological Systems Simulation centre (SESS)   Job description We are seeking applican (...)

Safeguard’s First Annual General Meeting

Between 5 – 8 April 2022, consortium members and other stakeholders of the Safeguard project met in Seville, Spain, for the project’s first Annual General Meeting (AGM). The three-day-long event was hosted by the University of Seville and entailed informative presentations, in-depth discussions, as (...)

Safeguard wishes you a happy and memorable Easter!

Safeguard wishes you a happy and memorable Easter!Photo: Safeguard Easter holiday card (...)

Join Safeguard now: Open PhD opportunity for Nitrogen deposition at University of Bordeaux/INRAE

University of Bordeaux offers a Nitrogen Deposition PhD position in the BIOGECO - BIOdiversity, Genes & Communities Unit in Bordeaux, France. The successful candidate will work as part of Safeguard, which brings together world-leading researchers, NGOs, industry and policy experts to help Europe (...)

Two open PhD positions in Ecology at SLU

Open PhD position in ecology at SLU: join Safeguard now!The Department of Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences offers a PhD-candidate position in agricultural ecology placed in Uppsala, Sweden.The successful candidate will work as part of Safeguard and will investigate how ecol (...)

Committee of the Regions adopts opinion on the EU Pollinators Initiative

At its Plenary Session on 26 January 2022, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted the Opinion "Local and regional authorities accelerating the implementation of the EU Pollinators Initiative". Here, we highlight some of the key calls and commitments outlined in the opinion. The rapporte (...)

Safeguard featured in ELO's Activity Report and Newsletter

The European Landowners’ Organization (ELO) is one of Safeguard’s project partners. ELO is committed to promoting a sustainable and prosperous countryside and to increasing awareness relating to environmental and agricultural issues. Engaging various stakeholders, ELO develops policy recommendations (...)

Open interdisciplinary postdoctoral position at INRAE: join Safeguard now!

INRAE offers a postdoctoral position in the INRAE Agroecology multidisciplinary research unit in Dijon, France. The successful candidate will work as part of Safeguard, which brings together world-leading researchers, NGOs, industry and policy experts to help Europe reverse the losses of wild pollin (...)

(2/2) Safeguard community advances with a series of online workshops

Data synthesis: the workshop delivered informative discussions and insightful feedback about the collection of environmental data. Many ideas about data synthesis were presented and discussed (analysing aspects of diversity; analyses across different habitats etc.). As a next step, the leaders of th (...)

(1/2) Safeguard community advances with a series of online workshops

It will be an exaggeration to say that most people barely remember what working on international projects was like before the COVID-19 pandemic. But it is true that we got used to “the new normal” – seemingly endless virtual meetings, repurposing our homes into offices, all our colleagues su (...)

Safeguard team members meet for a field workshop in Würzburg, Germany

Despite the ongoing global pandemic and the many limitations that the world is facing as a result, Safeguard members managed to successfully gather for the first physical meeting of the project, between 29 and 30 November, 2021. Project partners met in Würzburg, Germany where the group took on an ed (...)

Safeguard is awarded "Project of the Month" by the European Commission

Each month the European Commission honours a Horizon 2020 project as “Project of the Month”. Safeguard is very glad to announce that the project has achieved this excellence in the month of October 2021 with an article on EC’s primary source of results CORDIS. Safeguard has been recognised to be a c (...)

Lund University is recruiting

The Faculty of Science at the Lund University is looking to recruit up to four Associate Senior Lecturers. The successful candidates will be given the opportunity to develop their independence as researchers and teachers.The call is open to all research fields at the Faculty of Science. The employme (...)

Happy holidays from Safeguard!

Safeguard wishes you a very happy holiday season and a joyful and prosperous New Year!Photo: Safeguard Holiday card (...)

The consequences of climate change and land use on biodiversity and ecosystem services are disentangled, according to a new research

A recently published article in the open-access journal “Methods in Ecology and Evolution” gives more insight into the currently lacking long-term data on biodiversity trends.In the Anthropocene, climate and land-use change are major causes of environmental deterioration, but little is understood ab (...)

Linking flowers to pollinators: Relation between floral resources and pollinators’ activity

A research article recently published in the British Ecological Society’s Functional Ecology journal, examines how the quantity of floral resources affects pollinator activity and how this relates to the structure and robustness of pollination networks. The paper titled “Patterns of pollination inte (...)

Partners from 25 institutions across Europe and China join forces to reverse wild pollinator decline

Between 7 - 9 September 2021, leading experts in the field of wild pollinators and biodiversity from 25 institutions across 14 European countries and China gathered for the official kick-off of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation project Safeguard. Due to present COVID-19 restrictions, the even (...)