Engaging citizens and farmers in addressing the decline of wild pollinating insects

Working in the context of the EU Pollinators Initiative, the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy has been supporting the Directorate-General for Environment through the Science and Technology for Pollinating Insects (STING) project in exploring innovative approaches to engaging citizens in reversing the decline of wild pollinating insects. The report summarises the work of five experts contracted to pilot participatory processes bringing farmers and ordinary citizens together to extend the terms of the debate on pollinators decline and to co-create local interventions. The project’s results confirm that the use of participatory processes and tools can be effective in increasing the engagement of different publics in addressing the decline of wild pollinating insects. Beyond being receivers of awareness raising and education campaigns, citizens are also able to participate actively in, among others, debates on the issue, project development and knowledge production when it comes to complex issues such as biodiversity and pollinators decline in particular.