Balparmak and TEMA Foundation Launch "If There Are Bees, There Is a Future" Project

The Ministry of National Education, in cooperation with Balparmak and TEMA Foundation, launched the "If There Are Bees, There Is a Future" project in 2019 with the aim of raising public awareness about the contribution of bees to the ecosystem and the sustainability of life. Primary school level education under this project was conducted online during the 2020-2021 academic year due to the pandemic. The "If There Are Bees, There Is a Future" project, launched to raise awareness about the importance of bees for nature and humans and their contribution to the ecosystem, is being implemented through online education in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education, Balparmak and TEMA Foundation. Within the scope of the project, 30 provinces and 136 primary schools were reached in 2019, with approximately 5,300 children participating. In 2020, through online education conducted due to the pandemic, primary school students in grades 2, 3 and 4 were provided with information about the importance of bees in nature and human life. Through education implemented in cooperation with TEMA Foundation volunteers and volunteer teachers whose classes participated in the project, the aim is to explain to children the contributions of bees to humans, nature and the world, and to raise awareness regarding the protection of habitats of bees, which are architects of biological diversity and continuity. In the online education sessions, children are given information about bee life, anatomical characteristics, their roles, their products and their contribution to pollination for plant reproduction. Subsequently, children are informed about what they can do to become voluntary Bee Friends, and the materials contained in the "If There Are Bees, There Is a Future" awareness kit and digital games available on the www.arilarvarsa.org website are introduced. With the addition of Ağrı, Bartın, Bayburt, Denizli, Düzce, Elazığ, Karaman, Kars, Kilis, Nevşehir, Sakarya and Sinop to the project in 2020, online education launched in a total of 40 provinces reached 8,000 children by the end of 2020. By the end of the three-year project, it is targeted to reach 70,000 people in total, including 46,500 children, across 50 provinces.