Honey Bees & Hope in the Anthropocene convenes a group of multidisciplinary experts from a variety of fields — apiculture, conservation, forestry, art — to reflect upon the most pressing issue of our time, the Climate Crisis, and explore new synergies and multiple ways of being and knowing.
Honey bees, and in particular arboreal apiculture (aka tree beekeeping), have been chosen as a source of inspiration, for they peacefully and symbolically represent the interdependence and inter-being of Nature’s innumerable life forms.
While the Anthropocene upends societal, ecological, economic, and spiritual systems all around us, we simultaneously find ourselves encountering opportunities for deep introspection and visionary innovation. Leading this charge and paving many promising new pathways for conservation, education, and inspiration, our panelists will share their stories, further pushing the boundaries of current narratives and hopefully inspiring attendees to think and act outside of the box.
PROGRAM (times based on CET / GMT +2)
15h55: Entry to Zoom
16h–17h: Panelists' individual presentations
17h–18h: Panel discussion + audience Q&A
DETAILS
Program will be conducted in English
Zoom link will be sent upon registration
Suggested donation of 5€ or more, proceeds to benefit a charity (tbd)
PANELISTS
Christoph Heinrich is the Chief Conservation Officer of WWF Deutschland and a member of WWF's Executive Board. He is responsible for WWF's nature conservation work to preserve biological diversity. The focus is on the protection of endangered habitats and species in international priority regions of the tropics and temperate latitudes, as well as in Germany. As a member of numerous nature conservation organizations and as a studied geographer, he has been active in nature conservation on a voluntary basis since his youth. || www.wwf.de
Ana Prvački’s training and background in music, theatre, mask work, architecture, fine art, and beekeeping inform a cross-disciplinary practice that ranges from watercolor to video, performance, and augmented reality. "I commit to making my work as round as the earth and my performances as compressed as water. I aim for pedagogical meme pollination and maximum viewer titillation." She comes from a line of Slavic beekeepers. || www.anaprvacki.com
Heinz Risse is a tree beekeeper, co-founder of Mellifera Regionalgruppe Berlin, and founding board member of Tree Beekeeping International. He teaches beginners in organic, bee-centric, natural beekeeping; tree beekeeping; as well as traditional tree-climbing techniques. He is the Mellifera e.V. regional group leader in Berlin and co-producer of the Learning from the Bees | Berlin 2019 conference. || www.mellifera-berlin.de
Michael Joshin Thiele’s pioneering approach to apiculture as a platform for global renewal has appeared in national and international magazines, books, and films. He has presented his work at Harvard University, New York University, and consulted for the USDA. In 2006 he founded Gaia Bees to advance biodynamic practices in apiculture, then in 2017 created Apis Arborea, a multidisciplinary approach towards rewilding, conservation, and protection of honey bees. Michael pursues apiculture within a socio-cultural and spiritual dimension, and is an edge-walker within the biodynamic and holistic apicultural field. || www.apisarborea.org
Honey Bees & Hope in the Anthropocene is a collaboration between The Ambeessadors, Apis Arborea, and Mellifera Berlin.
Photo © Michael Thiele