What is The Future for Cities?

219R_Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development? (research summary)

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Are you interested in why bees matter for cities?

Summary of the article titled Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development? from 2021 by Vidushi Patel, Natasha Pauli, Eloise Biggs, Liz Barbour, and Bryan Boruff, published in Ambio – A Journal of Environment and Society.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Simon Burt in episode 220 talking about bees and their connection to cities.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how bees contribute to sustainable development. This article investigates the threats of bee population reductions and the broader importance of bees to sustainable development beyond their role in promoting food security and biodiversity.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

  1. Bees play a crucial role in pollination, directly impacting food security, biodiversity, and sustainable agriculture by supporting the pollination of a wide array of crops and wild plants.
  2. The decline in bee populations due to habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change poses a significant threat to their ecological benefits, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect these vital pollinators.
  3. Bees contribute to achieving 15 of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underscoring their broad importance beyond pollination to include economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development.

    4. You can find the article through this link.

    Abstract: Reductions in global bee populations are threatening the pollination benefits to both the planet and people. Whilst the contribution of bee pollination in promoting sustainable development goals through food security and biodiversity is widely acknowledged, a range of other benefits provided by bees has yet to be fully recognised. We explore the contributions of bees towards achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our insights suggest that bees potentially contribute towards 15 of the 17 SDGs and a minimum of 30 SDG targets. We identify common themes in which bees play an essential role, and suggest that improved understanding of bee contributions to sustainable development is crucial for ensuring viable bee systems.

    Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

    • No.101R - What we owe the future (book summary);
    • No.178R - Brighter: Optimism, progress and the future of environmentalism (book summary);

      • You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

      What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

      I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

      Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

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      What is The Future for Cities?By Fanni Melles