UN Awards Ceremony on August 17, 2020
On August 17, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bees for Peace received recognition as an Official Project of the UN Decade of Biological Diversity in Germany for the following two years.
The award was held outside with masks and physical distance under a blue sky in front of the Christ Church at the City Garden in Cologne, Germany. Rainer Will (DomForum), Patricia Horn (Baha'i Community of Cologne), Pastor Christoph Rollbühler (Christ Church, pictured standing, left), and Rafet Oztürk (DITIB) spoke about the connection between their respective religions and bee protection. So did Debra Williger (Institute for Theological Zoology), whose reflections on Judaism and ecology may be found here.
Bees for Peace founder Dr. Carrie B. Dohe entertained those present by posing partly informative, partly humorous questions:
Stephanie Krauch (Abrahamic Forum in Germany) awarded Bees for Peace the prize. (Right, she is showing off her mask received from prize distributor, Amanullah Peerzad. Read her speech here).
Heidrun Haardt and her daughter sang songs about bees ("The Birds and the Bees" by Jewel Aken and the theme song of "Maya the Bee", among others), and those gathered were encouraged to sing along.
- Which Christian figure has been symbolized by bees?
- What is the name of the most famous German TV bee?
- The 16th Surah in the Holy Qur'an is called "the bee." The number 16 corresponds to which aspect of bee biology?
- When did bees first evolve?
- What does the honey-seeking bear mean in Jewish medieval illustrated manuscripts?
- Why do we need to protect bees?
- Why is Bees for Peace such a great project?
Stephanie Krauch (Abrahamic Forum in Germany) awarded Bees for Peace the prize. (Right, she is showing off her mask received from prize distributor, Amanullah Peerzad. Read her speech here).
Heidrun Haardt and her daughter sang songs about bees ("The Birds and the Bees" by Jewel Aken and the theme song of "Maya the Bee", among others), and those gathered were encouraged to sing along.
Left: Afterwards, participants enjoyed a physically-distanced honey tasting in a well-ventilated room (inside to avoid attracting bees and wasps), hosted by expert beekeepers Iris Pinkepank and Stephanie Breil (HonigConnection), as well as coffee and cake.
Middle: The very image of a harmonious bee colony! The Bees for Peace network in Cologne, which brought together representatives of different faith communities with beekeepers and environmentalists, working in cooperation to save bees – and ourselves.
Right: There was something for everyone to enjoy the day, including toddlers eager to play-act being an emergent baby bee!
Middle: The very image of a harmonious bee colony! The Bees for Peace network in Cologne, which brought together representatives of different faith communities with beekeepers and environmentalists, working in cooperation to save bees – and ourselves.
Right: There was something for everyone to enjoy the day, including toddlers eager to play-act being an emergent baby bee!
How does Bees for Peace accomplish its aims?
Bees for Peace has thus far offered workshops on wild bee habitats, built bee hotels that suit bees’ biological requirements, organized interfaith actions to create planter boxes for flowering bee feeding sites to be positioned on the grounds of houses of worship, held roundtable discussions on pollinator protection involving people of faith and trained conservationists, and created special events for different age groups, from young to old. Bees for Peace has also inspired faith leaders to preach on nature conservation as grounded in scriptural sources, then lead their communities outside to sow seeds and plant flowers for bees on the grounds of their houses of worship.
Actions
Below are actions related to Bees for Peace or bee protection during the Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation in Cologne and Region. These events demonstrate a spectrum of activities for various age groups and communities, engaging members of various faiths and at times bringing them together in collective efforts.
2018
Our first event was an interfaith (Baha’i, Buddhist and Christian) springtime action to build planter boxes. It was announced by WWF Youth, the Nature Conservation and Environmentalism Academy of North Rhein/Westphalia,
and HonigConnection.
Shortly thereafter, a raised bed was built at the Catholic Holy Three Kings Retirement Home in Cologne to the delight of its residents. Then the Christ Church in Cologne’s City Garden held a political church service and flower-seed planting.
2018
Our first event was an interfaith (Baha’i, Buddhist and Christian) springtime action to build planter boxes. It was announced by WWF Youth, the Nature Conservation and Environmentalism Academy of North Rhein/Westphalia,
and HonigConnection.
Shortly thereafter, a raised bed was built at the Catholic Holy Three Kings Retirement Home in Cologne to the delight of its residents. Then the Christ Church in Cologne’s City Garden held a political church service and flower-seed planting.
The 2018 Cologne Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation in September offered numerous events where visitors could learn about bees and bee protection:
- Market of Diversity
- Wild Bee Habitats workshop
- Bees and Honey in the Religions and in Our Contemporary World interdisciplinary conference
- Children’s bee exhibit and environmental bus at a mosque
- Bicycle pilgrimage to bee protection spots
- Bee-hotel workshop for kids
- Collective picnic with a flowerpot exchange
2019
During the 2019 Cologne Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation, the Central Mosque of DITIB, Germany’s largest Muslim organization, held a sermon in all of its mosque communities on Islam and nature conservation, reaching possibly 200,000 people, and hosted a bee-friendly community flower-planting.
During the 2019 Cologne Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation, the Central Mosque of DITIB, Germany’s largest Muslim organization, held a sermon in all of its mosque communities on Islam and nature conservation, reaching possibly 200,000 people, and hosted a bee-friendly community flower-planting.
Bees for Peace Interfaith Planter Box Action, Spring 2018
The Cologne Youth Work Center of the Archdiocese of Cologne
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Ariane and Patricia (Baha’i) have fun building nesting boxes and planters.
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Anne of Shambhala Buddhism and her husband build a raised bed together.
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The Catholic Rainer helps construct a raised bed for another religious community; The nature conservationist Harry (left) and the Catholic social worker and trained carpenter Bernd (right) provide the professional guidance on how to construct the planters and nesting boxes.
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Iris of HonigConnection helps Ariane with her project.
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Annika from Friends of the Earth joins in.
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The participating social workers used the action to educate their young clients on bees and bee protection in the week preceding the event, by offering a honey-tasting, by planting flowers and by making desserts out of honey.
The interior courtyard of the Shambhala Center of Cologne and home to a beautiful Bees for Peace flowerbed.
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The Holy Three Kings Elderly Home, Spring 2018
A raised bed was built at the Catholic Holy Three Kings (Heilige Drei Könige) Retirement Home in Cologne. The day was entertaining for all participants: the elders enjoyed sitting in the courtyard on the sunny day the work took place, and afterward regaled the nature conservationist Harry with fascinating stories from their life histories.
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Harry entertaining the residents with his work.
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The finished flowerbed.
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A resident entertaining Harry with his stories.
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One very satisfied customer!
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Christ Church Political Church Service, Spring 2018
The Protestant Christ Church (Christuskirche) in Cologne embraced the care of Creation practically and organized a “political worship service” for Bees for Peace (Bienen für den Frieden). Pastor Christoph Rollbühler gave an inspiring sermon, Stephanie Breil and Iris Pinkepank of HonigConnection explained how to protect bees and Carrie Dohe encouraged the laity to include Creation in their Christian practice.
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The poster for the political Church service.
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Pastor Christoph Rollbühler (in pastoral robe), Stephanie Breil (speaking) , Carrie Dohe (in front row), with the choir and laity.
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Church members help plant new flowerbeds for bees.
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Carrie, Stephanie and Iris also do their part.
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Participants in the autumnal bike pilgrimage for Bees for Peace learned about developments at the Christ Church. Churches have a lot of space where bee-friendly flowers can be planted, such as (here) the space between driveways.
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Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation
In September 2018, several events supporting bee protection were held during the Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation in Cologne and Region.
Market of Diversity
The Market of Diversity has been held twice in Cologne at the opening events of the Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation in Cologne and Region 2018 and 2019. It highlights the environmentalist projects run by religious communities and environmentalist groups that partner with them. Seventeen organizations offered information about their programs in the Sikh, Baha’i, Buddhist, Catholic and Protestant faiths. Present were also Friends of the Earth, HonigConnection and the city’s waste removal department. Shown here are just some of the stands.
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What do religion and nature have to do with each other? Some thoughts of Market visitors.
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NourEnergy e.V. is an interdisciplinary Muslim environmentalist organization, focusing on tackling climate change holistically through technical expertise and consciousness-raising.
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The Abrahamic Forum offered a stand to inform visitors of the “Religions for Biological Diversity” project.
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The Archdiocese of Cologne informed the public of its project Moveo that promotes sustainable use, acquisition and transport.
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The Protestant Kartause Daycare Center, showing pictures of their sustainability projects for young children, which include an organic garden, a plastic trash reduction program and beehives.
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Hima e.V. is a Muslim organization for environmentalism and nature conservation, guided by principles of sustainability as found in the Holy Scriptures of Islam and in science.
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The Sikh Association used the occasion to invite people to their Open House later in the week, where they introduced the public to their religion and to the climate protection project EcoSikh.
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Wild Bee Habitats
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This event gave participants a glimpse into the fascinating diversity of wild bees in Germany. More than 500 species of wild bees may be found in that country, many of them on the Endangered Species list. Participants discussed the contributions that individuals and religious communities can make to preserving the world of wild bees within an urban environment. Participants exchanged stories about their experiences with wild bees, gained practical information for creating habitats and learned about the effects of seasonal changes on the lives of bees.
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Bees und Honey in the Religions and in Our Contemporary World:
An Interdisciplinary Conference in English and German
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This one-day symposium took place on Sept. 6, 2018 at the Melanchthon Academy, a Protestant Institute of adult education in Cologne. It brought together religious studies scholars, nature conservationists and activists for a “cross-pollination” of ideas. A special issue of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture is in the works.
Lunch was provided by the local Brahma Kumaris community, using produce supplied by Foodsharing. This organization seeks to reduce food waste by redistributing for free still-edible food deemed unsalable by supermarkets and bakeries. |
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Slide from the presentation of Prof. Ilia Rodov (Chair, Department of Jewish Art, Bar Ilan
University) on bees, bears and honey in medieval Jewish illuminated manuscripts. The bear symbolized the seeker of divine wisdom, which was imagined to be as sweet as honey. 
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Slide from Rosamund Portus, Ph.D. student at the University of York, who spoke on how and why the threat of bee decline has triggered an influx of activism, and how the loss of bee populations can help people understand and connect with the increasingly urgent issue of climate change.
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Dr. Jane Wright, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Bristol, explaining how, in victorian poetry, bees were variously linked with Christ, Satan, France, Rome, the Saints, and both personal and national spiritual transition.
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Claire Frampton presenting on the theme of bee protection in contemporary theater projects in the US and the UK.
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Dr. David Pattinson, Lecturer in Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Leeds, questioning whether bees played much of a role in the religions of China before the modern era.
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Food for thought…
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Bees - Signs und Healing for Humans, DITIB Central Mosque
The Qur’an contains a verse in chapter 16 which is called “The Bees” (pronounced An-Naḥl, in Arabic الْنَّحْل):
“And your Lord inspired the bee, saying: 'Take your habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect. Then, eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for you).' There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varying color wherein is healing for humans. Verily, in this is indeed a sign for people who think.”
The exact verse that mentions the (female) bees has sixteen words, which together are made up of sixteen different letters. Female bees have sixteen pairs of chromosomes; males have sixteen single chromosomes. This mysterious and delightful correspondence between Qur’anic verse and bee biology may give many people pause to ponder the meaning of the sign.
The Central Mosque in Cologne of DITIB (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği), a Turkish-cultural Muslim organization and Germany’s largest Muslim Association, invited Friends of the Earth to inform mosque visitors about bees and insect protection through its mobile environment bus, which offers magnifiers to examine insects up close. Visitors also had the opportunity to build insect hotels. Finally, an exhibit of children’s art was on display, featuring environmentalist topics raised during a Qur’an lesson.
The Central Mosque in Cologne of DITIB (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği), a Turkish-cultural Muslim organization and Germany’s largest Muslim Association, invited Friends of the Earth to inform mosque visitors about bees and insect protection through its mobile environment bus, which offers magnifiers to examine insects up close. Visitors also had the opportunity to build insect hotels. Finally, an exhibit of children’s art was on display, featuring environmentalist topics raised during a Qur’an lesson.
Drawings of children from a Qu’ran lesson on nature and environment
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Signs from the nature conservationist organization Friends of the Earth, with a bee inviting passers-by to the exhibit of children’s drawings inside.
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A Friend of the Earth informs mosque visitors about bee protection and environmentalism.
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The Friends of the Earth Environment Bus, where visitors could learn about insects and their protection. The bus attracted at least 100 visitors after Friday prayers.
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The Bike Pilgrims and Friends of the Earth participated in a press conference.
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Bicycle Pilgrimage for Bees for Peace
In the inner-city area of Cologne, various raised beds for bees have been set up to draw attention to the fact that our biodiversity, including especially bees, is very much threatened. Therefore, this pilgrimage drew attention to what we can all do to preserve diversity by visiting these sites and learning about hands-on projects. Some of the stops included rooftop gardens set up by HonigConnection; the Shambala Buddhist Community; the Christ Church; the DITIB Central Mosque; Friends of the Earth Cologne; and, seen here, the Saint Agnes Church, the grounds of which are being converted into an oasis for local plants and animals by a volunteer from NABU, the Nature Conservancy Association of Germany. The Pilgrimage ended at the Baha’i Community Center, arriving in time for dinner and a presentation on what Baha’is around the world are doing to preserve our Earth.
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Bicycle pilgrims in front of St. Agnes Church in Cologne.
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At the church entrance, we were all fascinated by this wild bee, who was busy creating a tunnel in the sand between the front terrace stones in which to lay her eggs.
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A very eye-catching insect hotel, designed to get people to look more closely at the nesting box and bee feeding site, as this trainee of the Archdiocese Environmental Office is doing.
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Love …
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Wins!!!
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Hotels for Bees
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The Cologne Youth Center followed up on the earlier Bees for Peace flower bed-making action in the spring by hosting an event to build hotels for bees. Not just religious communities but also private individuals were invited to participate to make nesting aids for bees for use at their communities or homes. They offered honey desserts on the balcony among bee-friendly flowers and also watched a movie about bees.
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Picnic with Flower Pot Exchange, Evangelical Kartause Daycare Center
The Protestant Kartause Family Center held a picnic open to all participants of the Interfaith Week for Nature Conservation in Cologne and Region. It received produce for the picnic from Foodsharing. Picnic participants gathered together at tables, chatting amiably while chopping vegetables to be grilled. They were encouraged to bring a flowerpot to the picnic, inscribed with the name of their religious community or organization. These flowerpots were planted with the seeds of bee-friendly flowers and exchanged, helping people from different communities get to know one another.
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Bee-keeping at the kindergarten.
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An art project on bees during football season.
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Picnic visitors got to know each other while chopping vegetables for their collective meal.
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The vegetables were donated by Foodsharing and then grilled and seasoned.
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At the picnic, people could exchange flowerpots…
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… As did the president of of Foodsharing, Frank Bowinkelmann and Kartause pastor Anne Quaas.
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Visitors were also given “seed bombs,” balls of dried dirt that had been packed with seeds, and were invited to help seed next spring’s bounty of flowers by throwing the seed bombs into the flowerbeds.
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The Greening of the DITIB Central Mosque Front Plaza, 2019
Cologne, Germany
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The greening the mosque’s front plaza took place in line with the diversity of Muslim society and biodiversity. During that Friday’s prayer service, the imams in not just this central mosque but in over 900 DITIB mosque communities throughout Germany preached on Islam and nature conservation, possibly reaching over 200,000 people. The central DITIB mosque in Cologne also planted bee-friendly flowers, inspired by Bees for Peace.
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Plan to greenify the front plaza of the DITIB Central Mosque in Cologne.
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One of the many flower boxes planted during the greening action, this one featuring Surah (chapter) 16 of the Qu’ran "The Bee".
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