Rational use of plant protection products and fertilizers in terms of the impact on bees in the ecosystem

According to our analysis and surveys, there is lack of complex information and relevant comprehensive knowledge in the field of organic apiculture in VET systems in Europe, with focus on rational...

Air, water and food are among the basic necessities necessary for life. However, sometimes we do not realize that our lives probably could not exist without bees, which are becoming more and more extinct for pesticides, which are used more intensively than before. Beekeeping is a special field of agricultural production. Bees provide many environmental benefits in the form of cross-pollination and in the form of therapeutic effect of bee products. Several recent foreign studies have shown that pesticides known as 'neonicotinoids' can have various long-term effects on bee colonies, including reducing the number of queens. The losses of beekeeping are considerable due to the impact of incorrect or excessive use of these pesticides. In some cases, this can contribute to the complete collapse of the bee colony. The loss of bees has become a big problem, because bees are among the world's most important pollinators of agricultural crops, as well as wild plants. The quality of honey, pollen and the viability of bees is an excellent measure of the quality of the environment. The health of bee colonies and their development is negatively affected by any mixture of pesticides in food supplies (honey, pollen) accumulated in the hive. Therefore, it is worth striving to eliminate the loss of bees caused by improper use of agricultural pesticides, as well as lack of imagination in their application - the main consequent benefits of bee activity will be pollination of crops and subsequent increase in crops, secondly the prevention of large economic losses and finally, very important benefit is the unpolluted natural environment in which humans live. To tackle with above mentioned issues, the main objective of the project is to update and improve knowledge and awareness of VET students, VET organisations, farmers and people working in the farm production area in the field of organic beekeeping and proper usage of the chemical plant protection products and fertilisers, by means of the creation of Curriculum and Interactive training content focused on organic beekeeping and development of interactive training materials and tools on organic apiculture and rational use of plant protection products.

The main goals and objectives of the project is providing high quality training content about rational use of plant protection products and fertilizers in terms of the impact on bees in the ecosystem. The training content must be provided in the very modern and innovative way with utilisation of the new and still developing technologies. The perfect technology to implement and achieve our goals is Learning management system such as Moodle which allows to prepare educational content in the way friendly and also easy to learn for a wide spectrum of beneficiaries in different geographical areas. Easy learning is especially important in the area of the project topic because we are directing our project to broader groups of beneficiaries like people and teachers from distant rural areas. As a result, we will have the e-learning educational content both in on-line and off-line form available to use on PC or cell phones or tablets, as well as printed and electronic handbooks. Communication activities play a key role in successfully disseminating knowledge in the project, raising awareness and attracting potential end users. Communication activities under the BeePro project will mainly concern raising awareness about the project through electronic and non-electronic media, as well as through interactive and non-interactive activities, such as the presentation of the project website in social media, etc. We will actively use for communication relevant EU and national networks.

There will be several results during lifetime of the project and at the end. First result of the project will be R1: BeePro Curriculum including State of the Art. It will include overall report of the situation about beekeeping in all partners countries- State of the Art, Training methodology and BeePro Curriculum itself. The SoA report will consist of national reports from all partners countries about local situation of the beekeeping related to the topic of the project. Another part of R1 will be the training methodology. This document will describe the way of the implementation and executing of the trainings. It will describe also methodology pilot testing. This document will be intended for project consortium and will be available in English. As a third, very important part of the R1 will be prepared curriculum of the BeePro project. This document will specify all aspects related to competences, content, timing, EQF demand and also learning outcomes which will be obtained by the learner. Another project result will be the R2: Virtual Learning Environment with Training Content. The Virtual learning environment will be the main tool for delivery of the training content. Both the Virtual learning environment platform and training content will be evaluated during pilot testing activity. Last result will be R3: BeePro Handbook; The previously developed training content, adapted after the Pilot testing phase, will form main part of the BeePro handbook. It will also contain additional parts- case studies/practical examples. Outcomes not listed in section Project results: -Multiplier events with the aim to multiply the number of stakeholders that will be involved in the process of recognition the project outcomes. -Project website: it will be the main dissemination tool of the project and will provide all key information about project and its progress, website will be available in all partners languages and English. -Social Media: BeePro Facebook page -Dissemination Plan -Other Dissemination tools: Project Visual Identity, with project logo, Project leaflets- electronic and printed version, Newsletters- electronic version; -Quality Management Plan.