1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Newcastle
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Urban Beekeeping in Newcastle
Short description of the intervention
Newcastle City Council’s Bee Strategy has been created to promote the importance of bees. The bee populations had been declining for some time (in the UK) due to various factors including loss of habitat, disease and use of pesticides. Newcastle City Council is working with schools, universities, allotment holders, beekeepers to increase the habitat of bees and to raise awareness of their important work in pollination (1, 2, 5)
Address

Newcastle
United Kingdom

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
Habitat creation for pollinating species
Website of the intervention
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/planning-and-buildings/trees-landscape-and-wildlif…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Please specify "other" stage of the intervention
"The strategy was launched earlier this year [2010] following a motion put to the council by Cllr Doreen Huddar who was greatly concerned about the decline in bee populations." (Ref. 1)
Goals of the intervention
The aims and objectives of Newcastle’s Bee Strategy are:
- to raise awareness amongst the community and to show the benefits of bees
- to adapt to the local environment to provide the right conditions for all kinds of bees to increase.(2)
78 hectares of allotment land in Newcastle can become an important reservoir of essential forage for honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees. Newcastle Allotment Working Group, in conjunction with the Bee Strategy, will encourage beekeeping on its allotment sites; will promote education about the importance of bees, their decline, and how plots may be improved as a source of year-round forage for bees" (Ref 5)
Quantitative targets
78 hectares of allotment land in Newcastle can become an important reservoir of essential forage for honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees. (Ref 5)
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Green space creation and/or management
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Species-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect native species
Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
Means for conservation governance
Raise public awareness
Public engagement
Implementation activities
Measures include:
- Creation of the Newcastle's bees programme and the bee strategy (2)
- Plantation of more bee-friendly plants in municipal flower beds (2)
- Reduction of the use of residual herbicide in footpaths (2)
- Designation of selected allotments as 'bee gardens' (3)
- Changing the terms of reference on allotments to allow bee hives (2)
- Working with a city farm to establish a central venue for beekeeper training (2)
- Providing 20 bumble bee homes for sites across the city (2)
- Working with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and local beekeepers to get bee material and hives into schools (2)
- Installation of two council-sponsored hives
- Distribution of “Love our bees!” leaflets and posters in municipal buildings with tips for how residents can help bees. (2, 3)
Type of NBS project
Maintenance and management of urban nature
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Monitoring and maintenance of habitats and/or biodiversity
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Grey infrastructure featuring greens
Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Other
Community gardens and allotments
Allotments
Please specify "other urban green space connected to grey infrastructure"
Bee hives in school and public areas (1)
Vegetation Type
Shrubs
Trees
Flower beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Educational and research amenities (nature protection centre, monitoring stations)
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Pollination
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Cultural services
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The Bee Strategy was created and connected measures carried out by or with the contribution of Newcastle City Council. Measures are being taken by allotment holders, beekeepers, council workers, university researchers. Furthermore, the city works with schools measures aimed at raising awareness around bees), Newcastle City Council also works with Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Newcastle & District beekeeping Association and local beekeepers. (1, 2)
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Private sector or company
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private foundation/trust
Researchers/university
Citizens or community group
Please specify other participatory methods
A council-led bee steering group. (1)
Land owners
Private sector or company
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Taskforce groups
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Other
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
Please specify the national regulations/strategy/plan
Although NCC notes that "there are over 200 species of bees in the UK, but bee populations have been declining in the last few years due to various factors including loss of habitat, disease and use of pesticides”, and “Newcastle City Council’s Bee Strategy has been created to promote the importance of bees”. (Ref. 2)
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
To promote the importance of bees. (2)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Newcastle City Council’s Bee Strategy. (1, 2, 3)
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
‘The Newcastle Allotment Strategy 2010-2015' which mention ecological benefits of allotments (e.g. Honeybees and bumble bees which are threatened and that "increasingly allotment sites are growing flowers to sustain bees and becoming involved in beekeeping"). (5)
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific green space strategy or plan
Biodiversity strategy or plan
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Newcastle District Beekeepers Association, (who, as a group, seeks to understand honey bees and support their wellbeing). (Ref. 2, 6)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Newcastle is involved in NATURVATION (NATure-based URban innovation), a Horizon 2020 project (EU).
A case study “Bee Friendly at Moorside”. (5)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Through the Allotment Budget (from paying rent to the Council). (5)
“A specific “Bees on Allotments” objective to include honey bees, bumblebees and masonry bees, all of which are suffering an acute and alarming decline in numbers. We recommend that beekeeping on allotment sites is specifically encouraged by start-up grants and that projects to encourage the planting of bee-friendly flowers are encouraged.” (5)
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Not applicable
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
“The pollination of crops by honeybees is worth an estimated £200 million [around 227 million EUR] each year to the British economy.” (Ref. 2)
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Other
Please specify other source of funding
E.g. through the Allotment Budget (from paying rent to the Council). (5)
Type of fund(s) used
Other
Please specify other type of fund used
Through the Allotment Budget (from paying rent to the Council). (5)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Urban offsetting model (biodiversity or water)
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify social innovation
Raising awareness around Bees (through working with e.g. schools in the city). (Ref. 2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The bee strategy is new, although urban beekeeping is not new to the city (e.g. local beekeepers). (Ref. 1,2, 4)
Replicability/Transferability
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Beekeeping is taking place in Newcastle, e.g. Geordie Bees (hives on the roof at the Church of St John the Baptist), with the first colony of bees installed in 2013 on the roof. (Ref. 7, 8)
Also, the city contributes with information, Bee keeper training, etc. to help bumblebees. (Ref. 2)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Enhanced support of pollination
Description of environmental benefits
There is no publicly available impact assessment of the Newcastle City Council's Bee Strategy and applied measures, therefore only expected benefits can be listed here:
- With the planting of more bee-friendly plant and trees in municipal flower beds, the green area in the city increased (1)
- These bee-friendly plans and the reduced use of residual herbicide in footpaths provided more habitat to local bee species supporting their pollinating activities (1)
- Changing the terms of reference on allotments to allow beehives (i.e. designating selected allotments as "bee gardens") it also increases the habitat creation for bees (1)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Increased awareness of flora and fauna as culturally and historically meaningful
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
- With offering beekeeper training on a city farm as a central venue of bee keeping and citizen education, local's knowledge of bees and their role in pollination is increased (1)
- Working with allotment holders, university researchers, council workers, training individuals in 'bee-keeping'. (2, 3)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of October 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
unknown
Link to the output of assessments
https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/default/files/wwwfileroot/leisure-libraries-…
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Questionnaire
Interview
Other
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
The Bee strategy includes working with local beekeepers, Bee keeper training, informing residents (e.g. regarding information about bee friendly plants in gardens or allotments). (1, 2)

Also, the Newcastle Survey (mentioned in the allotment strategy, which is affected by the bee strategy) included 1,100 face-to face interviews, guided by a structured questionnaire. (Ref. 5)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1
Ref. 2
Ref. 3
Ref. 4
Ref. 5
Ref. 6
Ref. 7
Ref. 8
List of references
1. Urban Bees Blog. (2010). Bees in Newcastle. Accessed on October 26, 2020, https://www.urbanbees.co.uk/blog_1/?p=448
2. Newcastle City Council. (n.d.). Wildlife and Biodiversity. Bee strategy. Website not available
3. The Guardian. (2010). Bees help keep Newcastle at top of green city table. Wainwright, M. Oct. 2010. Accessed on October 26, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/oct/18/bees-newcastle-green-city-sustainability
4. Newcastle City Council. (n.d.). Bee Keeper Letter. Policy Resources. Website not available
5. Newcastle City Council. (n.d.). The Newcastle Allotment Strategy 2010-2015. Allotments Working Group. Website not available
6. Newcastle and District Beekeepers Association. (n.d.). Home. Accessed on October 26, 2020, http://www.newcastlebeekeepers.co.uk/Our-Apiarys/our-apiarys.html
7. St John The Babtist (n.d.) Geordie Bees. Newcastle upon Tyne. Website not available
8. Living North (2014) Geordie Bees. Accessed on October 26, 2020, https://www.livingnorth.com/northeast/people-places/geordie-bees
Comments and notes
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/bees_ref_6.jpg
Public Images
Urban Beekeeping
Urban Beekeeping
Russell Nelson, retrieved 08/15/2018
Urban Beekeeping
Urban Beekeeping
Russell Nelson, retrieved 08/15/2018
Urban Beekeeping
Urban Beekeeping
Russell Nelson, retrieved 08/15/2018