At the research and teaching apiary Bee.Ed. (short for Be(e) Educated) of the Austrian Educational Competence Centre for Biology, bees become buzzing helpers in communicating the UN goals of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Being an expert in "bee didactics" Andrea Möller founded the cross-national and award winning ESD project ten years ago at the University of Trier, Germany, and then brought it to Vienna.

Bee.Ed unites actors from all levels of education

In Bee.Ed, students from schools in and around Vienna can experience honey and wild bees, while at the same time learn about the life of these important yet endangered pollinators. The school classes are supervised on site by future biology teachers, creating a unique opportunity for them to gain teaching experience. Furthermore, they learn how to run a school apiary and create an attractive habitat for wild bees on their future school campus.

In addition, scientific questions are taken up and investigated in PhD-projects integrated in Bee.Ed. In the context of subject-specific didactic research, the impact of learning with bees, for example, on young people's interest in nature or sustainable environmental action, is being examined.

With EU delegate and celebrity chef Sarah Wiener the program now had a prominent visitor, who shares its sustainability goals. Sarah Wiener and Andrea Möller have known each other since 2017 when they met at a conference of the “Bienen Machen Schule“ network. They both engage in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) goals, especially raising awareness for the dramatic biodiversity loss.