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FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

Bees pesticides and precaution: building an epistemic network in Norway

Awarded: NOK 1.00 mill.

Project Number:

309996

Project Period:

2020 - 2023

Funding received from:

Location:

The aim of the BeeCaution project has been to involve and reach out to Norwegian actors in the production of knowledge in the Horizon 2020 project RECIPES. RECIPES focused on the relationship between the Precautionary Principle (PP) and innovation. The Precautionary Principle is an internationally recognized principle that enables political decision-making and regulation of substances or technologies (such as chemicals, pesticides or nanotechnologies) that pose a risk to health or environment, even if knowledge on the risk is incomplete, uncertain or contested. In the RECIPES project, the main goal has been to develop new tools and guidelines, in collaboration with various stakeholders and societal actors, which can ensure that the use of the precautionary principle goes hand in hand with responsible innovation. As inspiration for the development of these tools, RECIPES' partners have conducted nine empirical cases on the role of the precautionary principle in regulating various technological innovations. At UiB, we conducted a case study on the regulation of so-called neonicotinoid insecticides due to the risk they pose to pollinating insects such as bees, focusing on the role of the precautionary principle. The first BeeCaution meeting was held 29.04.2021, drawing participants from academia (philosophy of science, entomology, toxicology, law, social sciences), civil society (environmental organizations, beekeepers associations) and members of scientific committees on environmental risks. We discussed the precautionary principle and its role in Norwegian and European environmental law as well as the scientific and political process that led to European-wide (partial) bans on pesticides that are harmful to bees. We received valuable input from the participants on the relevance of these results both in general and for the Norwegian situation. To enhance engagement of Norwegian actors, we made Norwegian translations of RECIPES briefing notes and articles. These materials have been distributed in the BeeCaution network, on the BeeCaution webpages, and to about 130 respectively 150 participants at the 2021 and 2022 Vossamøtet, a major conference for beekeepers in Western Norway. Furthermore, we have sought to channel insights from BeeCaution into the RECIPES project. We have extended the media analysis of the RECIPES project (covering the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), Le Monde (France) and The Guardian (UK)) with an analysis of the precautionary principle in Norwegian newspapers. Secondly, insights from the BeeCaution meetings have been shared with and used in the RECIPES project. The European Commission and other European policymakers and agencies are end-user of the RECIPES’ “guidance on the future application of the precautionary principle” and the results of the BeeCaution project have thus added to the impact on political and governance processes at EU level. The Norwegian authorities may benefit because Norway relies substantially on the EU's risk assessments in relation to the approval or regulation of chemicals such as pesticides. In January 2022 BeeCaution hosted a digital seminar called “The role of the precautionary principle in European chemicals regulations” with over 40 participants. In May 2022 BeeCaution participated with a stand at the biodiversity weekend at VilVite science museum in Bergen. The target audience were young children and their parents. For this event, two Master’s students from UiB’s Master’s in Sustainability developed several educational games on pesticides and bees. On the 7th of June 2022 BeeCaution organized an international symposium on “Systemic pesticides and the biodiversity crisis” in collaboration with the “International Task Force of Systemic Pesticides” (TFSP). Amongst the speakers were also an investigative journalist and an international campaigner to present their insights on industrial lobbying practices that have substantially delayed and watered-down precautionary measures against pesticides that are harmful for bees. On the 6th of October 2022 BeeCaution organized a major dissemination event in Brussels in collaboration with the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO): “Science, lobbies and the environment: marking the 60th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring”. This event was very well attended by a mixed audience of EU policy makers, international and national NGOs and scientists. On 10 May 2023 BeeCaution held its final public event in Christie Café, Bergen in the form of a public lecture on “Urgent decisions in uncertain times, the case of global insect decline “. The event was in collaboration with the Bergen Society for the Advancement of Science. It was well attended, and a podcast of the lecture together with the PowerPoint slides have been made available online.

Through a series of trans-disciplinary symposia, BeeCaution has increased interdisciplinarity by fostering a dialogue on the precautionary principle in relation to pesticides and bees between a wide range of societal actors and scientific disciplines ranging from legal scholars to bee biologists to bee keepers, policy makers, NGOs and investigative journalists. These dialogues have also fed into the RECIPES guidance for the future application of the Precautionary Principle in Europe [the final product of the HORIZON 2020 project REconciling sCience, Innovation and Precaution through the Engagement of Stakeholders - RECIPES], which presents a shared vision by a European-wide epistemic community around the precautionary principle. BeeCaution’s major international dissemination event in the Norway House in Brussels in collaboration with the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO): “Science, lobbies and the environment: marking the 60th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring” sparked a lot of attention ahead of the event date and was very well attended (more than 70 participants) by a mixed audience of EU policy makers, international and national NGOs and scientists. It also got some media attention. The full recordings of the event are made available online and have been viewed by almost 400 people. Examples of high-profile dissemination are the fact that the project leader was invited by the European Environment Agency to deliver a BeeCaution keynote at their international webinar "Drivers of change, risks and opportunities" with more than 200 participants. Further, the European Food Safety Authority EFSA invited a BeeCaution key note “Broadening the scope of future environmental risk assessments of pesticides: lessons from the RECIPES neonicotinoids case”at the EFSA ECDC ECHA EEA EMA JRC joint conference ONE HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, SOCIETY, 21-24 JUNE 2022 - in Brussels and online (ca. 2800 participants). With a plenary lecture and dissemination activities at a major Norwegian beekeeper meeting (Vossamøtet, with 130 participants in 2021 and 150 participants in 2022), BeeCaution has advanced pesticide literacy and awareness of its environmental impacts amongst Norwegian beekeepers. We distributed Norwegian translations of RECIPES briefing notes and articles on the subject amongst Norwegian beekeepers to further educate them about the precautionary principle and challenges and flaws in current regulatory risk assessment of pesticides. BeeCaution’s teaching modules on the precautionary principle and on bees and pesticides offered in UiB’s PhD course “Theory of Science and Ethics” (attended by about 80 PhD students per year) will contribute to a lasting impact on young talent. BeeCaution’s consortium building activities have further increased international collaboration by bringing together leading scholars from 7 countries committed to submit a joint bid in the upcoming Horizon call Dependence of society and the economy on pollinators.

We build a Norwegian epistemic network of relevant actors to engage in the H2020 RECIPES case study on neonicotinoid pesticides and bees through three Norwegian co-creation workshops for (1) Societal stakeholders; (2) Research environments; (3) policy makers. We extend the RECIPES media analysis to include a Norwegian newspaper. We will translate key deliverables and policy briefs resulting from RECIPES policy dialogues into Norwegian. RECIPES aims to reconcile science, innovation and precaution by developing new tools and guidelines, based on co-creation with stakeholders, to ensure that the Precautionary Principle (PP) is applied while still encouraging innovation. The PP guides decision-makers faced with high risks, scientific uncertainty and public concerns. As a general principle of EU law, it allows decision-makers to act despite scientific uncertainty. The PP is also criticised for hindering technological innovation. Some stakeholders proposed an innovation principle, which requires taking into account the potential impacts of precautionary action on innovation. Phase 1 showed that the PP is mentioned in many Norwegian laws and policy documents but it's use and application is still under-developed. There is an urgent need for state of the art knowledge in Norway on the recent international developments and discourses about PP and its relation to innovation. RECIPES comprises three research phases. In the framing phase of the project, the RECIPES Consortium will examine the effect and the application of the precautionary principle since 2000 (legal analysis, literature review, media analysis). In the analytical phase of the project, 8 case-studies will be done. UiB leads the case on neonic pesticides and bees. This will be combined with scenario building. In the developmental phase of the project, scenario workshops will be combined with a multi-criterion assessment framework to develop and assess the usefulness of the to-be-proposed new tools.

Funding scheme:

FORSTERK-Forsterkningsmidler

Funding Sources