Bridging the implementation gap;

  • Effective dissemination of (research) information
  • Enabling access to best available knowledge/best practice
  • Regional adaptation of general information
  • Creating arenas for joint learning
  • Developing new products, business models and markets
  • Gaining access to and linking beekeepers needs
  • Reaching societal goals through public funding

…but large differences among the “knowledge systems” across Europe (actors, networks, funding, etc) (B-KIS)

Specific challenges in beekeeping

  • Diversified target group (large- to small-scale)
  • Mainly micro-businesses and self-subsistence
  • Rural entrepreneurs, geographically scattered
  • Gender and age structure
  • The will or ability to pay for professional services?
  • Lack of tradition in formalised competence development
  • Trainers and educators are self-trained as pedagogs (autodidacts)

… but also a situation where beekeepers are used to take responsibility for their own learning

Smartbees develops a webbased extension tool-box – as a resource for trainers and educators in beekeeping

Introduction to bee-extension

SmartBees is funded by the European Commission under its FP7 KBBE program (2013.1.3-02, Grant Agreement number 613960).