Sagene’s Buzzing Parks
CityBee (ByBi), an urban beekeeping group in Oslo, has built several different types of insect hotels for solitary bees in three parks in the Sagene District. Children, young people and adults have all been involved in the construction processes, learning about local solutions for a global problem.
Description of the initiative — the background
CityBee is an organization that works to facilitate honey bees ”living in the city” so that honey can be produced locally. In addition to this, they want to use urban beekeeping and their work for wild bees and other pollinating urban insects as a way to put sustainable urban landscaping on the daily agenda. CityBee arranges courses about beekeeping and pollinating insects. They cooperate with businesses, the public service sector, private individuals and researchers. The team that carried out the project in Sagene call themselves ”micro-activists: people who work to make the lives of pollinating insects better.”
The purpose of this initiative — which received support from Green Funding (Grønne Midler) and the Savings Bank Foundation DNB (Sparebankstiftelsen DNB) — was to try out four different designs for insect hotels, each with a different target group in mind. The construction of each hotel involved approximately two days of planning, and one day for implementation. This initiative had three functions:
1. To bring attention to a global problem, that is to say, an informative function
2. To represent a solution to this problem
3. To combine this solution with aesthetics
One hotel was built on the grounds of Parkens Grøde with assistance from three landscape architect students from USA. Two hotels were built at Arne Gjesti’s Place close to the Sagene Community Center (Sagene Samfunnshus). In addition to a sculpture-like hotel, a ”wildlife hotel/tree house” was also constructed and hung from a tree in the park. A fourth hotel was built in Bjølsen Park in conjunction with Svein Elias Gautefall’s Pollinator Garden (see narration: From Voluntary Grassroot to Green Entrepreneur).
We meet Anne Sofie Olstad Hansen (ASOH) and Facundo Arboit (FA) from CityBee. They tell us more about the construction processes. The hotel in Parkens Grøde was constructed on May 25, 2016 — close to a path that goes through the park. Landscape architect students from both Oslo and USA were involved with the work, as well as volunteers from Parkens Grøde and random passers-by. There was a nice mix of adults. The most important element for attracting people was that Tatiana de Séves and colleagues from Parkens Grøde, in connection with the construction, set up a long table where they served delicious food, most of which was harvested from Parkens Grøde’s own plantings. The building materials that were utilized for the hotels were relatively inexpensive and for the most part came from neighboring gardens: tree stumps, clay, sand, hollow sticks, reeds and straw.
The insect hotel that is situated at Arne Gjesti’s Place was built as part of a summer work project for neighborhood youth. 15 young people participated. There was a three day workshop, 5 young people at a time. Afterwards , the community was concerned that someone might peel away materials from the hotel, or put something in there that didn’t belong — for example small pieces of trash. But we will keep an eye on it, the adults who use the park told us. So a sense of local proprietorship was established here, FA and ASOH say. They emphasize the importance of cooperating with the district. Parks Consultant Mads Bruun Nakkerud and Environmental Operations Technician Helmat Sarzali were fantastic to work with. With their infectious enthusiasm and willingness to serve, they provided invaluable support, both in connection to the summer work project but also in relation to hands-on activities. The district administration’s welcoming attitude also really helped us, FA and ASOH tell us. One day with very bad weather the group was invited into the dry community center where we were able to carry on with a good deal of our work.
The hotel in Bjølsen Park was constructed in cooperation with the Youth Department in the District. It was erected with the help of 15 young people in conjunction with a summer employment project. These young people came from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds. As mentioned above, the building of this hotel was connected to another already established initiative, The Pollinator Garden. There was a fine synergy between the two green initiatives. CityBee set up the framework for the hotel beforehand. We had a good basis for the planning phase. They introduced the project to the neighborhood youth in advance. It was extremely entertaining to work with these young folks who previously knew nothing about pollinators or pollinator friendly plants. Every day they were required to write down what they had learned.
In addition to the construction of the four hotels, CityBee put together an information packet: The Pollinator Package/Together Toward a Buzzing City (Pollinatorpakken/Sammen for en summende by) which was distributed to preschools in Oslo.
Experiences that others can learn from
Our way has been ”the activist way,” says FA. And we interpreted this as a kind of ”cross-pollination” between grassroots and more established systems. The synergy has shown this approach to be effective — embracing local involvement, rather than just having designers or landscape architects carry out construction on their own. But having said this, specialists are essential if one wants to have a good process and a good product. It’s important that the different participating target groups be part of the construction, that they follow the physical processes, that they have a hands-on experience. The impetus for the work has been to build a bridge between local residents and competent professionals that CityBee could supply — and through this cooperation facilitate a sense of ownership. What’s been unique, is the dialogue created between us as professionals and the local groups. We feel this has yielded much greater value than, for example, a beautifully designed insect hotel built by a professional designer in one of the other Oslo districts, costing half a million crowns, says FA and ASOH. It’s an important part of our bottom line that the insect hotels are locally rooted.
Many fine people of various ages have been involved, and they are proud of what they have accomplished. They can show it to others and tell what they have learned. Many people expressed how essential it was to combine aesthetics with the public enlightenment. The district and Savings Bank Foundation DNB have been good at publicizing the construction of the hotels; an important part of the process: describing our methods and the results. This has been of great value. For example, environmental consultant Dayton Gordley arranged a walk with politicians from the district board so they could see, among other things, the insect hotel as a fine addition to other green initiatives already visible in the urban space.
Another important dimension was the cooperation and sharing of experiences with other green initiative takers in the district. A synergy developed that we couldn’t have foreseen. It’s important to connect activities to other initiatives that are already in place. We also learned the importance of good planning and organization, to maintain control over what we want to deliver. This has been a critical factor in the success of our methods and contributed to the fine results, FA and ASOH tell us.
Future images — next year through to 2030
One of our ideas for next year is to make contact with some of the closer preschools and hear if they could take care of the insect hotel on Arne Gjesti’s Place, thus getting more people involved. And if possible, we would gladly repeat our successful cooperation with the Youth Department connected to summer work and summer school combined with green initiatives like the insect hotel and the pollinator friendly gardens. We would also like to create an arrangement where constructing an insect hotel would become a family activity.
Further on in the future they imagine it becoming accepted policy that pollinator friendly plants would be found in increased numbers all over the city, that people would consider this as a fact of life. In addition to this, they hope for a more general understanding of the importance of pollinating insects and pollinator friendly plants for the future of the food supply. It will add to the quality of life when this becomes integrated into our everyday landscape. The social and green movements have become vital players in urban development, in dialogue with ”the system” and with public authorities. They imagine Oslo’s parks in 2030 will look totally different. There will be many rooftop gardens and more. All this will have become mainstream and an essential element in our urban environment.
Questions
Which places in your community would be good for insect hotels/pollinator friendly plants?
How could this be combined with other activities that already exist?
Check your district or community: what are they doing to develop parks and green spaces as public gathering places and arenas for learning?
Contacts
Anne Sofie Olstad Hansen, involved in events and ByBi
Email: annesohansen@gmail.com
Facundo Arboit, architect
Email: facuarboit@gmail.com
