Strijbeek, the place to bee - research based design report by Fruzsina Gyertyan

STRIJBEEK, THE PLACE TO BEE Bees & Biodiversity in Strijbeek 3

L A R - 6 0 3 1 8 AT E L I E R LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING WAG E N I N G E N U N I V E R S I T Y 04 JUNE 2013 FRUZSINA GYER T YAN 890411290080 EXPER TS GABRIELLE BAR TELSE RUDI VAN E T TEGER

Abstract Bees are declining worldwide due to habitat loss and the use of pesticides in agriculture. Their importance in the ecological system though is essential, and the ecosystem services of bees are also of crucial importance in food production. Strijbeek, a village in Alphen-Chaam has unexplored opportunities to support the survival of diverse bee species, and to grow the environmental awareness of people about this issue. De BijenBoerderij, a bee-farm and beekeeping supplier is located in Strijbeek. Apart from honey production and trade, they are also organizing educational and recreational activities. This initiative can be a great starting point for a landscape design supporting the growth of bee populations and diversity, because it is making the connection between bees, humans and ecosystem services apparent and interactive. Followed by a research on biodiversity planning, ecological design and the specific needs of bees, this paper shows how can honey and bees, as local slow products, can trigger rich biodiversity and habitat for both domesticated and wild bees in the landscape of Strijbeek, while growing agro-environmental awareness. A conceptual design is created for a path between Strijbeek and the Strijbeekse Heide, using different approaches in the zones of human settlement, agriculture and nature. Zooming in on Strijbeek, the village center and the entrance route of De BijenBoerderij gained new form, to better connect them to the landscape, to create a sense of place, and to encourage the presence of bees.

Table of Contents Abstract Table of Contents 1. Introduction

5 7

9 1.1 Context ��9 1.2 Theoretical background ��9 1.3 Bees & Biodiversity ��10 2.1 Problem statement ��13 2.2 Research objective ��13 2.3 Research Questions ��13

2. Focus of the research 3. Methodology

15 4.1 The ‘Ecologische Hoofstructuur’ ��17

4. Landscape ecology & biodiversity planning

17 4.2 Nature in agriculture ��18 4.3 Methods for biodiversity planning ��20 5.1 Situation ��23 5.2 The history of the ‘Strijbeekse’ landscape ��23

5. Landscape and nature in Strijbeek

23 5.3 The village of Strijbeek ��24 5.4 De BijenBoerderij ��25 6.1 General description ��29

6. Bees under the scope

29 6.2 Conservational principles ��30 6.3 Species in the area ��30

7. Conceptual design

33 7.1 Design strategies ��34 7.2 Ecological landscape: design by vegetation ��34 7.3 Dynamic structures – design by vegetation ��35 7.4 A pollen-rich and beautiful flora ��36 8.1 Spatial concept ��39 8.2 From flower to flower ��39

8. Zoom-in on Strijbeek

39 8.3 Visualizations ��40

9. Conclusion 10. Limitations 11. References 12. Attachments

43 45 47 51

1. Introduction 1.1 Context

1.2 Theoretical background

The following research-by-design report is made as an assignment for the course work of the Atelier Landscape Architecture and Planning, 2013, at Wageningen University. The theme of the atelier this year, in collaboration with the Municipality of Alphen-Chaam, is ‘Values in motion: towards (Citta) slow landscapes’. The study area of Alphen-Chaam is located in Brabant, in the Dutch ‘Silicon valley’, where ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ velocities are both present in a contrasting way. The region is recognized as a global pole of innovation in consumers’ goods technology, and the future is visioned as of ‘Top Economy, Smart society’ in the Brainport2020. Meanwhile, the micro-reality of AlphenChaam is a typical rural small town, struggling to slow down emigration and to preserve the medium- and small scale agricultural sector from the consequences of global transition to large-scale agriculture. In 2010, the Municipality of Alphen-Chaam joined the international Cittaslow movement, stating its intention to promote ‘slow living’ (Course Guide, 2013).

Slow living is not a slow-motion of our lives, but it is about consciously taking time for, and considering the purpose and pleasure of each task we spend our time on, and which make up our daily life. Some of the most obvious practices of such would be cooking and sharing a meal instead of eating fast food; growing fruits and vegetables instead of buying them from the supermarket; and walking or taking a bicycle instead of driving a car (Parkins, 2004).

Following a descriptive-analytical research on the topic of ‘slow living’, titled ‘The Landscape’s Taste – Slow Food, Lifestyle and Authenticity in AlphenChaam’, done by the group of M. Creemers, T. Dolders, F. van Gils, F. Gyertyán and L. Solé-Figueras; this prescriptive individual research and design project by F. Gyertyán is aiming to apply the findings of the group phase. This report, as being a landscape project, fits best with the pragmatic approach due to its high complexity.

Fast velocities, associated to globalization, often bring homogenization to our environments (Knox, 2005) and our culinary practices (Petrini, 2003). By the spread of fast-food restaurants and supermarkets offering products from all over the world, at any season, people are getting detached from the landscape, the origins of food, giving less time and value to local gastronomic legacies (Petrini, 2003). Meanwhile, this global market allows food and other goods to travel extreme distances in a short time, thus the competition on the market is much larger. The result is the dominance of industrialized, largescale agriculture; and the struggling of small-scale businesses to survive (CAP, 2013). As a response to ‘fast food’ and the threat of globalization to local traditions and characteristics, the international Slow Food movement was founded in 1989, by 15 countries signing the Slow Food Manifesto. The essence of slow food lies in a set of ideas, of which the most basic is that alimentation is an essential part of life, thus quality of life is inevitably linked to the pleasure of eating in healthy, flavourful and varied ways (Petrini, 2003). Food is tied to many aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment. The association, opposed to the standardization of industrial agriculture, promotes neogastronomy: the recognition between

plate, planet, people and culture (Slow Food, 2013).Ten years later, in 1999, Cittaslow emerged from the Slow Food movement, adopting the same philosophical background but broadening their focus on small towns, and their environmental conditions and public facilities (Cittaslow, 2013). As we found in the group phase, an important aspect of slow living is food, as it has both social, economical, ecological and spatial dimensions. Pointing our focus from Cittaslow to the Slow Food movement, we discovered that slow food can be used as a tool to trigger changes in all aspects of life and landscapes. In the group research, we have set the theoretical background for opportunities how the consideration of slow food principles can influence the landscape, lifestyles and authenticity in Alphen-Chaam. In this researchby-design, I show how the local honey as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;slow foodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; product can be a tool to landscape design, and a starting point for ecological and spatial improvements.

10 1.3 Bees & Biodiversity The Slow Food movement, among its many objectives, targets awareness and food education, and the great value of (agro-)biodiversity (Slow Food, 2013; Petrini, 2003). Alphen-Chaam has several local products, which fit the Slow Food movement (Municipality of Alphen-Chaam, 2013), although not necessarily possessing the official Slow Food title. The focus of this research is on the honey produced at De BijenBoerderij. The farm is located in Strijbeek, and besides honey-production, they are also renting their bees for pollination, selling beekeeping supplies, and organizing educational events for all age-groups (De BijenBoerderij, 2013). Pollenization thus is another contribution to food production in the area, which is an often overseen ecosystem service. As the farm, apart from profit-oriented activities, is already taking a role in education about bees and honey production, this case is optimal for further investigation. Bee farming is an actual and interesting topic for several other reasons. On one hand, there are serious ecological concerns about the decrease in bee

populations. Bees, as primary pollinators, provide a keystone ecosystem service of pollination, on which a large amount of food production and cattle forage is depending (Lemelin, 2012). About every third bite of food or drink is dependent on their services (Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996; in Lemelin, 2012, p. 80). In Europe the value of pollinators to food production, only in terms of pollination, is estimated to be 27 billion euros each year (EIC, 2013). Bee pollination is essential for global agriculture and human food security, however the ecosystem services they provide may be endangered as they show population declines and disappearing (Lemelin, 2012). This trend is apparent in both domesticated and wild bee populations, due to loss of habitat, changes in used crop species, and the broad application of pesticides (Corbet et al, 1992; Westrich 1996). The damage of pesticides for bees is so threatening, that the European Commission recently decided to ban the three most harmful neonicotinoid insecticides continent-wide, for two years from the 1st of December, 2013 (European Environment Agency, 2013; Slow Food, 2013). It is worthwhile to mention, that the Slow Food movement highly supported this decision, and it played an important role in drawing attention on this issue and organizing demonstrations against the use of pesticides (Slow Food, 2013). On the other hand, bees are good model species for environmental awareness. Bees are unique species that both have apparent ties to the environment through their ecosystem services, and a long association with human cultures and beliefs. It has been shown that bees (especially honeybees) are one of the few groups of species that could get people directly involved with nature conservation, for example by planting a pollenrich garden; creating suitable habitats; buying local and/or organic honey, fruits and vegetables; etc. Thus they might be a good model to promote diverse, broader environmental education initiatives, because they touch on a variety of human/environmental realms (Lemelin, 2012). The objective of this research-by-design is to create an inventory for diverse bee habitats and green structures in Alphen-Chaam, and apply it in the area of Strijbeek. By doing so, the decline of bees could be locally

counteracted, furthermore, a protected bee-friendly environment would lead to better ecosystem services.To design for the support of bees, while growing environmental awareness, primarily an ecological approach is needed. The design must meet the habitat requirements of bees first; but it will only be successful in education if the created places are visited by people, open to learn about nature. The bee-farm, De BijenBoerderij is located in Strijbeek, where heath - which is a well-known bee forage plant - is an authentic feature of the landscape. The Strijbeekse Heide is a popular international trekking destination (Figure X), thus it is an ideal location to showcase sustainable honey production, and the importance of pollination by insects. Improving the protected natural area

and the agricultural landscape, and restoring parts of the heath landscape might lead to a greater interest of people, and a new habitat for wild and domesticated bees as well as other animal species. Taking De BijenBoerderij in Strijbeek as a starting point, I explore ways to affect the landscape and the lifestyles by spatial interventions connected to honey as slow food1 product, and to the role of bees in (agro-)ecosystems. This research focus on the possible ecological improvement of bee habitats, as it is profitable for honey production, and as it might be the first step to make the ecosystem services of insects (especially wild bees) visible in the landscape.

Figure 1. - Walking routes around the Strijbeekse Heide

1In this paper, slow food is any local product which follows the principles (good, clean and fair food), and adopts the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement (Slow Food, 2013). The possession of the official title â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in this research paper â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is not fundamental, so I handle the honey from De BijenBoerderij as a slow food product.

2. Focus of the research The worldwide decline of bee populations is a serious threat for the ecosystem and for food production. Bees have apparent ties to both the environment through their pollination services, and to human cultures. However, due to habitat loss and the use of pesticides, the decline of bees became a major environmental issue in the last decades. Apiarists and bee-keepers take a big responsability to stop this process. A great initiative is already present in Strijbeek: De BijenBoerderij. Apart from honey-production and pollination, they also provide educational activites and supplementary habitats for wild bees.

2.1 Problem statement The chemicals used by industrial agriculture, the loss of habitats and the decrease of bee forage-plants led to a major decline in the bee population. Alphen-Chaam has unexplored opportunities to improve bee habitats and sustainable honey production, and grow agro-environmental awareness by activities and spatial interventions in the area.

2.2 Research objective To explore through spatial interventions, in what ways can honey and bees, as local slow products, can trigger rich biodiversity and habitat for both domesticated and wild bees in the landscape of Strijbeek, while growing agro-environmental awareness.

2.3 Research Questions Main research question: How spatial interventions, related directly or indirectly to De BijenBoerderij in Strijbeek, could contribute to the biodiversity, ecological services, honey production and agro-environmental awareness in Alphen-Chaam? Sub-research questions: • What native plants and biotopes have a good potential to be used for bee-habitats around Strijbeek? • How the ecological improvement for bees can be implemented in the landscape of Stijbeek, by a design reinforcing local landscape characteristics? 13 • How is it possible to support the sustainable honey production of De BijenBoerderij by landscape design? • How can the agro-environmental awareness be enhanced by spatial interventions, related (directly or indirectly) to bee farming in Strijbeek?

3. Methodology The main focus of this prescriptive research is the potential for supporting the diversity and population growth of bees, while growing the agro-environmental awareness of residents in Alphen-Chaam, by designing spatial interventions connected to the local honey production in Strijbeek.

Primary data about the area has been gathered by observation made on a 2-days long field work, exploring the site by walking and cycling. Observations were used to detect problems and opportunities in the area, and to get familiar with the local flora and fauna.

Initial open-ended questions were: • Tell me about the operation of De BijenBoerderij? (to mention, if relevant: Where are the hives? How many of them? What are the necessities (tools, infrastructure) for apiculture at a spot? What is the amount of honey, produced per year? Does honey bring the major income? Is there a seasonality?) • Why did you chose Strijbeek as a location? What are the advantages and disadvantages? (to mention, if relevant: What are the advantages and disadvantages in the natural landscape? Is the connection with Belgium strong?) • I’ve read that as a side-occupation, you are also providing educational activities. Can you please tell me more about it? (to mention, if relevant: What kind of activities? Which age-groups? 15 How often? Who are coming, from how far?) • What are your future plans with De BijenBoerderij?

Furthermore, an open interview has been conducted with Jeroen Evers, the founder of De BijenBoerderij, to collect information about his honey as ‘slow food’ product, the difficulties of his enterprise related to landscape or customers, and about the current educational activities at the bee farm.

Parallel to the above mentioned explorative part, with the guidance of literature on ecological design, I suggest possible spatial interventions in a larger-scale conceptual design, and a more focused landscape design, to reach the research objective.

To answer the research questions, a literature study has been carried out about landscape ecology in the Netherlands, and methods for biodiversity planning and ecological design. Also a qualitative content analysis led to knowledge about bee habitat requirements, bee species for protection, and plant species to be used in the design.

The key concepts of the interview were: • local honey production and consumption • local situation of bees, advantages and disadvantages of the local landscape • educational activities

4. Landscape ecology & biodiversity planning All societies depend upon the ecosystem and its biodiversity. Humans rely directly on the diversity of life on earth as a source of air, fuel, fiber, medicine, and most importantly, food. Placing a value on biodiversity though is difficult, because most of the ecological services (such as climate regulations) do not have explicit markers, they are difficult to quantify (Ahern et. al; 1998). The appreciation of diverse ecosystems is depending on cultural and philosophical background, combined with scientific researches showing evidence. The unique value of the landscape in the Netherlands is lying in its cultural-historical aspects, its ‘man-madeness’. However, this manmadeness means human management in a naturally rich environment, not short-sighted use of resources. As the authors state it in ‘Landscape Ecology in the Dutch context - nature, town and infrastructure’, reserving landscapes “offer possibilities to maintain two different aspects at the same time: culturehistory and ecology. National landscapes can offer challenges in this area.” (Jong et. al., 2007; p. 48) The balance needs to be found between the exploitation of the land and natural resources, and the protection of ecological systems. Biodiversity loss is one of the main environmental issues today – biodiversity is fragile, and highly influenced by land-use decisions. The fragmentation and decrease of habitats caused by human land use and development is considered to be the greatest threat to biodiversity (Ahern et. al; 1998).

4.1 The ‘Ecologische Hoofstructuur’ To counteract this process, in 1990, the EHS (Ecologische Hoofstructuur or NEN, National Ecological Network) has been introduced in the Netherlands, to put landscape ecology in practice, and to ensure a continuous natural system in the Dutch landscape. Large areas, including agricultural fields, have been targeted as future nature areas, and strips of land (e.g. streams)

have been selected for green corridors. The realisation of the EHS is still undergoing, local provinces are responsible to create ‘new nature’ until 2018 (Jong et. al., 2007). The most recent development from 2006 is a policy combining agricultural reconstruction, nature development, leisure and National landscapes into one integrated policy for rural areas, spatially differentiated per region. A map is incorporated in this plan, showing the defined aims for 34 types of natural ecosystems, stating the regional aimed differentiation in nature development (Figure 2.). Although the framework is set, and policies are created, the practicalities are still facing problems. Most of the targeted nature areas of the EHS are on 17 private land, and although the states buys out some of it, and subsidies are provided for farmers to join voluntarily, if there is one exception in an area who uses harmful chemicals, it risks the whole system. Public support and support at the local governmental level thus are very important (Jon et. al., 2007). Furthermore, physical planning is impossible in these areas, which makes it difficult to develop it to a coherent system. Another, unexpected aspect of the EHS is, that most nature conservation initiatives and policies are focused on within the area, thus –ironically - it is a risk for nature outside of its boundaries (Jong et. al., 2007). Due to the difficulties with planning on private properties, in the conceptual design (see Chapter X) I keep the given boundaries of the EHS. However, the targeted nature ambition types and the provincially proposed structure of habitats will be reconsidered.

4.2 Nature in agriculture As it was discussed before, a difficulty of biodiversity conservation is that it often occurs on private agricultural land. This is extremely true for bee conservation, since agricultural fields are typically dry, sunny, open spaces where bees are likely to occur. Unfortunately, with the use of pesticides (especially neonicotinoids), agricultural fields are becoming a danger for bees, not to mention the poison getting into the water and the soil. There are alternatives though: simple agronomic techniques can help farmers to avoid neonicotinoid use, with the same level of production. Crop rotation, cultivation of different plant varieties, and stimulation of beneficial insects (including bees) have demonstrated to be successful alternatives. In case these farming practices cannot be established on the farm, then biological control (provision of natural predators) can be a solution (EIS, 2013). The problem of habitat loss is also economically relevant in agriculture, because some crops are highly dependent on pollination services, thus â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;invitingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; bees into a crop field is beneficial for the farmer. For the creation of farms enhancing pollination services, a balance needs to be found between the loss of cultivated land turned to habitat, and the gain of yield due to pollination and ecosystem services. Keeping nesting sites on their land only worth for the farmers if the bees are foraging in the field with a good coverage, but not foraging off-farm (otherwise they would lose land for habitat, but not benefit from the pollination). In the research of Brosi et. al. (2008) it has been found that for the best efficiency of pollination, small patches of nesting sites need to be distributed throughout the land, adjusted according to the foraging distance of the bees (Figure 3).

Figure 2. - Current land use types and nature ambitions in the EHS

At the same time, for population persistence there is a need for larger areas, or nesting sites in close proximity, where bees can spread (Figure 3/4). As a result, a hybrid system is preferred, where larger areas (to guarantee reproduction/ population persistence) and smaller areas (to guarantee equal pollination services) are dispersed through the landscape, integrated into farm fields. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no uniform size and spacing for bee habitats (Brosi et. al; 2008).

Figure 3/1. - The question of farm design for pollination services

Figure 3/2. - Inequal coverage and off-farm foraging

Figure 3/4. - Habitat needs for population persistence

Figure 3/3. - Adjusting the habitat structure to the foraging distance of the bee

In the area of Strijbeek, the small-scale mosaic landscape is a good basis for this hybrid strategy. Due to the relatively small size of the fields, the use of the edges might be sufficient to replace habitats conserved within the cultivated land. Furthermore, the fragments of natural sites (e.g. forest patches, ponds) are beneficial for population persistence. The border of the EHS is less than 600m away from any point in the area, and this big continuous nature has a large population carrying capacity as well.

However, industrialization and homogenization of agriculture led to a loss of natural- and semi-natural habitats. Loosing these spaces means a disadvantage for many plant species, insects, birds and other animals, which used to live in, feed on or move through these green spaces (Ahern et. al., 1998). Restoring wild nature is not the solution, since the traditional cultivation of the land provides a higher diversity of habitats. Many redlisted plant species are living on managed (agriculture-related) areas, thus traditional management needs to be continued (Jong et. al., 2007).

4.3 Methods for biodiversity planning As giving financial value to biodiversity and ecosystem services is quite difficult, biodiversity planning best succeeds when it is integrated with other goals, including environmental education, environmental impact mitigation, and regulatory compliance (Ahern et. al., 1988). In this project, biodiversity planning is integrated in improving slow tourism and liveability in Strijbeek. There are two main approaches in conserving biodiversity, one is an “endangered species” reactive approach, the other is a “hot spot” proactive approach. The former has several drawbacks, like being exclusive to other species than the protected one, and coming into play only when the damage is already done. The natural dynamics are also in question in this approach, there needs to be a balance between conservation and natural development (Ahern et. al., 1988). The “hot spot” approach is more strategic and pro-active, targeting habitats instead of species. This way areas are protected before degradation,

helping to conserve the overall biodiversity, supporting many species. The “hot spots” are usually areas which are high in species richness ad endemic species (Ahern et. al., 1988). In a design, it can mean creating and improving habitats in a general way, with a high diversity, not with the focus on only one endangered species. However, due to time and energy limitations, and the difficulties of gathering enough knowledge, biodiversity planning cannot be entirely inclusive. For this reason, biodiversity planners often use representative or indicator species (Ahern et. al., 1988). The representative group of species of this paper is the Apidae, or bees, for the before mentioned reasons: global decline; ecological importance; being a good model for environmental awareness; and the local relevance in Strijbeek. In the conceptual design (see Chapter 7.) I adopt the hot spot approach, with the focus on the needs of bees.

5. Landscape and nature in Strijbeek 5.1 Situation The municipality of Alpen-Chaam is proud of its diverse landscapes and it’s unique natural sites; such as heath, forests and stream valleys meeting here with grazing cattle and crop fields (Municipality of Alphen-Chaam, 2013). This rich environment makes it such a nice destination for slow tourism. If the weather allows, people often come here for outdoor recreation from the nearby area, but also from further distances (Photo X). In Dutch landscape terms, according to the EHS landscape evaluation, Alphen-Chaam is listed as moderately-goodly identifiable, and internationally moderately significant area (Jong et. al., 2007).

Strijbeek, a small village situated at the South-Western edge of the municipality, a few hundred meters from Belgium, is a strategic point in Alphen-Chaam, though its potential might be overseen. It is an entrance from the Flemish Brabant, it is connected with the busy LF9 cycling track coming from Breda along the river Mark, and also the LAW 11 national walking route is going through the village.

5.2 The history of the ‘Strijbeekse’ landscape As the historical maps on Figure X show, until the beginning of the 19th century, heath was covering the entire area. Farmers used it for ‘potstalcultuur’, grazing their sheep on the heath, then removing it together with the manure to fertilize their crop fields with it. By time, this use led to drifting sand, followed by forestation to stop it, and to provide wood and employment in the area. With the advent of artificial fertilizers, some more heath has been turned into fields or forests (de Bont, 1993). Due to the altered history and the poorness of the farmers, the result was a small scale mosaic landscape, which is still visible in the special character and beauty of Brabant. Figure 5. - Cultivation taking over the heathland (marked with green)

In the analysis on Figure 4, the heath landscape is highlighted with green, as the ‘original’ landscape type. From 1850 till 1939, it is clearly visible how cultivation took over the landscape, defining a certain land use for each square meter. For bees however, this diverse pattern provided more habitats than the natural heathland. From the 1950’s, due to the industrialization of agriculture, farmers started to upscale their fields. With the change of cultivation methods, the micro-scale landscape elements (such as micro-reliefs, grassy edges, separating hedges) also diminished. Both the shift in scale and the structural homogenization of the fields led to a decrease in semi-natural patches in the landscape. Currently agriculture is in decay in Alphen-Chaam, more and more people give up farming and work in the service sector instead (Slow Living Group 2., 2013). The trends show homogenization of land use, which for bees means a decreasing diversity of pollen-rich flowers. It is especially problematic in a 24 landscape focused on animal products, like that as the area of Strijbeek.

5.3 The village of Strijbeek Strijbeek is originated in the 13th century, though people lived on these grounds already since the 5th century. The connection of Goudbergseweg, an acient roman road, with the Hoogstraten (today Strijbeekseweg) leading to Breda made it a favorable location. In the 16th and 17th century it had a peak in its population (157 capital in 1672), and in 1518 they built a big chapel (Municipality of Alphen-Chaam, 2013). The original ‘kapel’ was 15m high and 22m long, but due to high maintenance costs and a decreasing population, it got destroyed and replaced by the little chapel which stands there today.

The St. Huberstus chapel was built in 1872 from the stones of the former church, and it has been restored in 1979. Saint Hubert, the first bishop of Liege, is the patron of hunters (Plaatsengids, 2013). Today, due to its location, many people are crossing Strijbeek walking, cycling or driving. The village itself does not have a strong character though. One can go through Strijbeek without a remaining idea of how it was - the view of the main street lacks a coherent structure, the ‘main square’ is hiding behind a green wall of hedges and trees, and there is not much reason for a stranger to stop there. The village, as many others in Brabant, has been growing out of a hamlet. The typical structure of it still can be seen on the plan view: the facades are not lined up, the orientation of each house is different, and next to the main buildings we can see smaller barns and garden storages. However, due to the strong linear elements, sharp edges, and the form and character of the front gardens, this authentic feature of scattered buildings becomes hidden to the visitor (Figure 5). The connections of the village with the surrounding landscape has weakened as well by time – though there are still broad views opening up between the houses, and horses are grazing along the main road, the accessibility of the surroundings is restricted. On one hand, some roads leading into the fields became private and closed, and on the other hand, the view shows a big scale with large distances, which is less inviting for a walk.

St. Hubertuskapel

Source:http://reliwiki.nl/images/1/1a/ Strijbeek_St._Hubertuskapel_1.JPG

View into the landscape from the Strijbeekseweg

In the below analysis (Figure 5), I compared the physical spaces of the street-scape (blue line) as defined by the buidings and forest patches, with the structure of the elements dominating the street perception. The fences, hedges, tree rows and pavements are all strengthening the linear structure, which pulls people through the space, instead of encouraging them to spend time in it (Jรกmbor, 1985). Furthermore, these elements are resulting in a more uniform street-scape, clashing with the scattered village structure. This problem will be considered in the design.

5.4 De BijenBoerderij De BijenBoerderij is a bee-farm and beekeeping centrum in Strijbeek. Apart from local honey-production, De BijenBoerderij works as an educationalrecreational venue, and as a store for beekeeping tools and materials, beewax- and honey products, and literature about beekeeping. Bee-hives are placed at 2 other locations as well, both around Strijbeek. 5.4.1 Interview with Jeroen Evers Through a personal interview with Jeroen Evers, the founder of De BijenBoerderij, I got more insight in the operation of the bee-centrum. This business operates there since 2011, although the enterprise started in 2009, at other locations. He explained more details about the three pillars of the enterprise: trade, education-recreation, and beekeeping; and the seasonality of each activity.

Educational and recreational activities are including workshops, excursions, internships etc. Each year an open day is organized, showcasing the treatment of bees, extraction of honey, films about bees, honey-wine tasting, children programmes and so on, attracting people from mainly Breda and from within the municipality of Alphen-Chaam. De BijenBoerderij has just got a new garden, composed with plants which are strongly connected to bees. Most of the flowers are domesticated species (herbs, vegetables), thus the role of bees in food production becomes visible. The proposed design will provide space for growing this initiative, thus local educational activities and the landscape will complement each other well. Beekeeping itself provides three goods: honey, pollination services, and selling bee colonies. Of these three, pollination is the most profitable one, because there is a predictable need for it each year. The bees from De BijenBoerderij pollinate mostly vegetables and fruits in heated glasshouses, 25 strawberries in plastic tunnels, glasshouses for seed-production, and apple orchards. Although trading with honey has a big potential, honey production itself is less good. Apart from being time- and labour-consuming, because of the cold and unpredictable weather, there is no guarantee for a good harvest. The

Figure 5. - The development of the streetscape of Strijbeek

only type of honey they produce themselves at Strijbeek is linden honey. In the opinion of Jeroen, biological honey production is basically impossible in the Netherlands, because pollution risks can never be 100% surely excluded from the area. Fot him, this location for a bee-farm is generally satisfying however. Valuable elements are the willows at the Mark valley, the springbalsemien flowers, and the heath for foraging; and the fens as source of clean water. When I asked about problems or desires, Jeroen mentioned that a more often use of bee-friendly trees (such as linden, acacia, chesnut) would be nice, even better, if used in combination in tree rows. A greater variation of (pollen-rich) crops would also be beneficial, for continuous rich food sources for the bees. The currently dominant plant, corn, and also strawberries, are providing poor pollen for the bees.

In the future Jeroen would like to further grow his enterprise. Trading and education-recreation are still dynamically growing braches, and he would like to increase the number of the bee-hives as well. 5.4.2 Observations When visiting the bee-farm, I had the impression that only those find the beefarm who are looking for it. A little sign next to the main road instructs the visitor to take a dirtroad in between two grazing fields, going out of the village, then a turn to the left, marked by a ‘bee-hive post box’. The place is hidden, the road is not inviting, the chance of passers-by getting interested is low – there is a need for improvement.

He also highlighted some areas which could be potentially used for planting 26 more wildflowers and bee-friendly trees - in ‘empty’ tractor-ways, along ditches and on edges in general. It would be a win-win situation, because for the plants, the presence of bees would help seeding, and for the bees, they would provide nectar and pollen. This idea is applied in the conceptual plan.

Scenes from De BijenBoerderij - the dirt road leading to the entrance from Strijbeekseweg, the building, a bee hotel and a honeybee hive

6. Bees under the scope 6.1 General description The Apidae (latin group name for the 7 families of bees) in the widest sense comprise 20.000 known species around the world, in the Netherlands 338 species are known. 56% of them are redlisted; with this they are the 3rd most threatened group behind butterflies (69%) and reptiles & amphibians (65%). There are general causes of the decline of the entire Dutch natural concern, eg. habitat destruction, acidification, eutrophication and fragmentation of habitats (Peeters & Reemer, 2003). Bees are specificly sensitive for the impoverishment of the flora, since both the adult and the larvae are feeding on flower products (nectar and pollen). Furthermore, with the fragmentation of the landscape, feeding grounds and nesting sites are getting further from each other, although for the survival of bees, they need to be found within the foraging distance of the bee species. Nesting sites are also decreasing due to paving more and more roads, the loss of micro-elements in the landscape, and the eutrophication resulting in vegetation overgrowing bare sandy spots. 6.1.1 Definition of bee habitats According to Biology online (2013), a habitat is a place where an organism or a biological population normally lives or occurs; the environment where it is most likely to be found; or the home to a particular organism where the species will attempt to be as adaptive as possible. The Franklin Institute (2013) defines habitat as the place where a population lives. Habitats are specific to a population, they must supply the needs of organisms, such as food, water, temperature, oxygen and minerals. If the populationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs are not met, it will move to a better habitat.

In the specific case of bees, Westrich (1996) in The conservation of bees describes three criteria, which the habitat must contain for nest-building bees (such as the honeybee): specific nest site specific nest-building materials sufficient amount of food plants as a source of nectar and pollen. The working definition of bee habitat in this research-by-design is thus an environment, where bees live or can be found, and where they can reproduce due to the available nesting sites, nest-building materials and the sufficient amount of food and water in the area.

29 6.1.2 Habitat requirements for bees The diversity of bees is highest in open, dry, flower rich biotopes, e.g. herbrich barren grasslands, embankments and dikes, dry heath, dunes and gouges. The availability of different habitats in a short distance of each other - flowers for foraging, water, and nesting sites in the range of the species - is essential, thus a mosaic pattern of the landscape is usually appealing for bees. In terms of behaviour and habitat requirement, there is a great variation within the group of Apidae: there are solitary bees and social species; they can build their nests in the ground, in dead wood, hollow shafts, wall cracks, sandy grounds or even snailhouses. There are also parasitically living species, cuckoo-bees, which are laying their eggs in nests of other bees. A wide variety of microhabitats, preferably undisturbed and lying in the sun are generally supporting the presence of bees. As for food, some bees are only feeding on one flower species (monolectic), some other have a preference for a few plants (oligolectic), but most of

them are eating all kinds of pollen (polylectic). It is important to provide the appropriate plants for all targeted bee species. A year-round supply of flowers is also crucial.

6.2 Conservational principles There is still little knowledge about the effects of certain management practices on the bee fauna, however, there may be some general rules benefiting the bees (Peeters & Reemer, 2003). On potential bee habitats containing nests, low disturbance is needed. Reeds should be mowed in a 3-4 year cycle. Ground slopes, ridges and bare sandy patches should be protected from trampling of livestock or humans, for the sake of ground-nesting bees (Peeters & Reemer, 2003). For the provision of food or forage plants, the following principles can be

30 applied: • •

Nutrient-poor areas: pasture, no intensive grazing; Nutritient-rich areas: intensive, phased grazing in order to take away nutritients; • From April till early September: phased mowing. If a full mowing is necessary, do it in early June (between the two periods in which most species of bees flying in); • Create little flowery meadows in uniform fields; • Include pollen- and nectar-rich flowers in seed mixtures for flowery meadows; • Experiment with multi-year set-aside; • Protection and management of habitats of important food plants: no mowing during or just before the flowering period. (Peeters & Reemer, 2003; p.77-78)

6.3 Species in the area To design suitable habitats for bees, I did a literature research on what species can be found around Strijbeek. Firts, following an analysis of the bee species proposed for the red-list in ‘Bedreigde en verdwenen bijen in Nederland (Apidae S.L.) – Basisrapport met voorstel voor de Rode Lijst’ (Peeters & Reemer, 2003), compared to the ‘Voorlopige atlas van de Nederlandse bijen (Apidae)’ (Peeters et. al., 1999), I detected the following red-listed species as potentially present in the project area (latin and dutch names): Andrena apicata – donkere wilgenzandbij Andrena fuscipes – heidezandbij Bombus humilis – heidehommel Bombus magnus – grote veldhommel Bombus soroeensis – late hommel Megachile analis – ericabij Nomada obscura – donkere dubbeltand Osmia adunca – slangenkruidbij Osmia caerulescens – blauwe metselbij Sphecodes ephippius – fijne neusbloedbij Stelis signata – gele tubebij For a more inclusive and proactive, broader approach, I listed the bee generea which are present in most numbers in the area of Strijbeek according to Peeters et. al. (1999), and described their usual habitat requirements. Andrena – mining bee (26 species present) Nests in underground burrows or cells, in sandy soils, near or under shrubs, to be protected from frost (Andrena Wiki, 2013). Andrena apicata is oligolectic on Salix sp. Andrena fuscipes is almost monolectic on Calluna vulgaris (Peeters & Reemer, 2003). Lasioglossum – sweat bees (15 species present) Most nest in the ground, some nest in rotten logs. Bees individually excavate separate nesting burrows close together in hard soil (Lasioglossum Wiki, 2013).

Hylaeus – yellow faced bee (8 species present) Nests are typically in dead twigs or plant stems, or other similarly small natural cavities, rather than constructing or excavating their own nests as in many other bees (Hyaleus Wiki, 2013). Bombus – bumblebee (7 species present) Bumblebee nests may be found within tunnels in the ground made by other animals, or in tussock grass. They can visit patches of flowers up to 1–2 kilometres from their colony. Bumblebees will also tend to visit the same patches of flowers every day, as long as they continue to find nectar and pollen, a habit known as pollinator or flower constancy (Bumblebee Wiki, 2013). Osmia – mason bee (6 species present) They are named from their habit of making compartments of mud in their nests, which are made in cavities such as hollow reeds, holes in wood made by wood-boring insects, clay walls etc. (Mason bee Wiki, 2013). Osmia adunca is monolectic on Echium vulgare (Peeters & Reemer, 2003). Megachile – leafcutter bee (5 species present) Solitary bees. Certain species neatly cut pieces of leaves or petals, hence their common name. Nests are sometimes constructed within hollow twigs or other similarly constructed natural cavities, but often are in burrows in the ground. Megachile analis, though polilectic, is often flying on Erica tetralis (Peeters & Reemer, 2003) It is worthwhile to mention, that two generea of cuckoo bees are also found in large numbers in the area, but since their habitat requirement is the presence of the bee species of which they use the nest, these two groups are not described above. They are namely the generea of Nomada (18 species present), a parasite on mostly Andrena, and Sphecodes (6 species present), a parasite on Lasioglossum.

7. Conceptual design For the protection of the bees, the main causes of their decline needs to be counteracted. These are the impoverishment of the flora, the fragmentation of habitats, the decreasing number of ‘small’ landscape elements, and the lack of nesting sites. The chosen site to demonstrate how can we counteract these processes is between Strijbeek and the Strijbeekse Heide, including parts of the village, agricultural fields and the natural area.

In the conceptual plan for this research though, heath has been prioritized over the dry grassland plans of the EHS, because heathland has a higher historical value, and it is an important feeding ground for many bee species.

The planned bee-habitats are organized around a flower-rich pathway connecting the center of Strijbeek and De BijenBoerderij with the agricultural and natural landscape (see Attachment 1). For a successful ecological The ‘Nature ambitions’ for the project area (Figure 6) are targeting a large design, expected to be visited by many nature-lovers, I have set three amount of grazing- and crop-fields as future dry grassland, wet heath and principles about how the project should be: moist meadows. In this project, this framework is adopted to the extent of I. Apparent keeping the given boundaries of the EHS, and including the targeted biotopes To grow environmental awareness, the (tacit) in the design. information about bees and natural processes should be visible and understandable. Since this research has an environmental focus, direct communication pine, oak and beech forest (e.g. info-boards) are not part of the design, but the large concentration of flowers, and (hopefully) the dry heat presence of bees will be noticeable. II. Accessible Areas should be accessible to be able to observe wildDry grassland and honeybees, their behaviour and their ecosystem services. The walking path serves as a venue for hands-on experience. III. Appealing moist meadow The sites need to be beautiful and pleasant, to attract others than people with specific interest in bees. The Goudberg food-plants are also contributing to this function: their Strijbeek colours and smell make the environment attractive. peat bogs Furthermore, views are directed to highlight elements wet heath marchland of the landscape. 100m

Figure 6. - EHS nature ambitions for Strijbeek

Source: http://atlas.brabant.nl/natuurbeheerplan/ (2013)

7.1 Design strategies A diverse landscape needs diverse design approaches. The track of the proposed walking path can be distributed to three zones: human settlement, agriculture and nature. The functional requirements of these areas are completely different, thus designing them requires different design and management strategies. In the followings, I will describe the zones and the design strategies I used in them. Nature ||| conservation The outer zone of the project, ‘nature’ is directly connected to the existing natural area of the Strijbeekse Heide. Nature conservation is the dominant management type here, because the main function of this zone is to provide habitat for wildlife, and to contribute to the national ecosystem. In the design, I improve the forest habitat by creating natural forest edges; and I enlarge the area of the heathland. An important element of the design is that the heath meets the open landscape, to resemble its original 34 character as opposed to the current situation, where heath occurs in isolated forest clearings. New biotopes are the wet meadow and the dry grassland, both working as a transition from the open natural landscape to the open agricultural landscape. Agriculture ||| management The zone of ‘agriculture’ is primarily private land, so the options are restricted to management and to the design of field edges. Along the path, naturally managed (low-extensive) fields are placed, showcasing alternative techniques instead of monocultures and the use of pesticides, such as crop rotation, cultivation of different plant varieties, and stimulation of beneficial insects. The placement of information boards here at a later stage is highly recommended. At the edges, flowering herbaceous vegetation is created with a few shrubs and trees along the road. These small flower-rich elements serve as green corridors for bees and other wild animals. Human settlement ||| design for awareness

In the village, close proximity to human settlements, the perception of scale is much different. Here detailed design is needed, with distinctive functions, directly targeting people by using the landscape as an interface. The beauty and comfort of the design is especially relevant. When designing with plants here, natural plantings should be flowering all-year round, and the ratio of non-native species can be much higher. The main square of Strijbeek and the entrance towards De BijenBoerderij have been re-designed, with the intention to invite people to enter the landscape, and to make them notice the wildlife around them (see Chapter 8).

7.2 Ecological landscape: design by vegetation The main function of the proposed landscape design is to increase the diversity and the populations of bees in the area of Strijbeek, in a way that it contributes to the environmental awareness of locals and visitors. Due to the strong ecological requirements, the major design material of this evidencebased design is vegetation. A landscape design based on the local naturally evolved landscape can be more sustainable, with a lower water- and energy consumption. If individual sites designed this way are interconnected, they provide a network of corridors for wildlife (Morrisson, 2004). Naturalistic plantations are typically diverse both in species and structures, thus they have a potential to increase habitat- and wildlife value (Hitchmough, 2004; Gustavsson, 2004). Furthermore, if the design of the vegetation is an abstraction of the biotopes occurring in the landscape, ecological planting design has a value of reconnecting the landscape with the natural heritage of the region, and thereby begin to reinforce or restore regional landscape character (Morrisson, 2004). According to Morrisson (2004, p. 122-124), the process of abstracting native communities in design can be done in 6 steps: 1. Study the natural model(s)

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Inventory and analyse of the site to be designed Identify users’ needs and functional requirements Develop a mass/space plan Match plant communities to the mass/space plan Select plant species and locate individual plants within community-like groupings

The first three steps are made in some form already: the study of the natural models through observation and literature about the landscape in Strijbeek; the analysis of the site; and the needs and functional requirements for both bees and humans. The next chapter is to develop the mass-space plan.

7.3 Dynamic structures – design by vegetation Plants provide nesting sites and food for bees, thus they are the most essential elements of the bee-friendly landscape. A diverse landscape is not only supporting bees though, but it should also be pleasant for people. Plantations along the trail and open rooms should form an interactive system, varying formal and informal patterns. Diversity is important: the choice of principles for tree and shrub plantings should shift from larger and smaller groups to individuals scattered in the open room, with a shift from ‘dense’ to ‘open grown’ character in planting (Gustavsson, 2004).

While going through the designed path, walkers will experience different spatial structures created by the vegetation. Although they are represented in cross-sections, variation along the lines is also need to be considered. Figure 7. shows the mass-space arrangements which will be implemented.

Figure 7. - Dynamic vegetation structures

7.4 A pollen-rich and beautiful flora One specific consideration for environmental designers and planners is habitat composition, which affect the flora and fauna relying on different kinds of land cover. Native species are preferred, as introducing exotic species to an area might distrupt the functioning and structure of the ecosystem (Ahern et. al., 1998). Furthermore, it is recommended to base the design around habitat stereotypes. Species that occus together in a natural community are more likely to tolerate similar conditions, be broadly compatible with each other, and have similar management requirements (Hitchmough, 2004). According to the habitat requirements described for bees, and considering the existing landscape features together with the provincial landscape ambitions, I selected 7 natural biotopes to design for bees: • heath land • dry grassland • forest edges 36 • wet meadow • flowering edges • flowering meadow • residential plantation (inside the village, see Chapter 8) The next design step is matching plant material to the dynamic structures of biotopes. Because of the limited volume of this paper, only plants with a high importance for bee species have been selected (Figure 7). However, it does not mean that the biotopes are made only by these plant species. For example, grasses often constitute 80% of a seed mix in a meadow planting, and only the remaining 20% is made of forbs or broad-leafed wildflowers (Morrisson, 2004), for which the selection is made for. The selection criteria were the following: • suitability for the biotope (water, light and soil requirements) • pollen-richness (according to Drachtplanten, 2013) • native plant, or wide-spread in the Netherlands since a long time • character, colour and shape; matching with other plants from the biotope • flowering times

To select the appropriate flowers and plants, as inspiration and data source I used Dutch websites about apiculture, primarily the website of Drachtplanten (2013); and public documents from the Flamish Brabant, such as the document of the initiative ‘Zaai een bloemenakker’ (2013), and the downloadable ‘Le calendrier des fleurs’ by CARI (2011). I paid attention to include all the favoured species of monolectic and oligolectic bees, and to follow the advices of Peeters & Reemer (2003, p. 78) about the most important plant families. The selected most important pollenand nectar-giving plants for each biotope are the following: HEATHLAND Calluna vulgaris Erica sp. Vaccinium myrtillus DRY GRASSLAND Achillea millefolium Aster amellus Centaurea rhenana Cirsium arvense Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Eryngium maritimum Thymus vulgaris FOREST EDGE Coriandrum sativum Lamium galeobdolon Vaccinium myrtillus Veronica Chamaedrys Acer tataricum Cornus mas Corylus avellana Crataegus monogyna

WET MEADOW Epipastris palustris Metha aquatica Primula veris Prunella vulgaris Cytisus scoparius Padus serotina Salix cinerea Salix pentandra FLOWERY EDGE Achillea millefolium Centaurea officinalis Ranunculus sp. Taraxacum officinale Trifolium repens Prunus spinosus Rosa pimpinellifolia Sambucus nigra FLOWERING MEADOW Anethum graveolens Borago officinalis Centaurea officinalis Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Echium vulgare Hypochaeris radicata Papaver rhoeas

heathland

Flowering meadow

DRY grassland

37 Forest edges

Flowery edges

wet meadow

Figure 8. - Plant selection

8. Zoom-in on Strijbeek 8.1 Spatial concept As it was explained before, Strijbeek is a village located on a strategic point for hikers and ‘slow tourists’, but it has a lack of character due to the incoherent streetscape. De BijenBoerderij is an important location for the project, but its accessibility and acknowledgement is weak unless people are directly looking for it. In the landscape design within Strijbeek (see Attachment 2), I focus on the character of the main square, the streetscape of the village, and the connections between the landscape, De BijenBoerderij and the village ‘center’. Though the form is targeting athropocentric problems, the used plants and materials (eg. gravel roads, rock pillars) are chosen for the sake of bees. I mostly focus on the road-crossing and the upper part of the village, because that is of more interest of this limited volume research. At a later stage, other parts of the village though are also recommended for further improvement.

8.2 From flower to flower In the design, there is space dedicated to colourful flowers throughout the year, in each vegetation layer. The choice for certain species is important: pollen-rich and/or native species are best profitable for the bees and for the wildlife in general. Here some plant species are listed to be used in the project, which have a high value for bees. The colour-combination and flowering times have been taken to account as well.

Herbaceous plants and shrubs: Bellis perennis Calendula officinalis Chrysanthemum leucanthemum Deutzia scabra Lavandula officinalis Narcissus sp. Rudbeckia sp. Myosotis sylvatica Salvia officinalis Taraxacum officinale Thymus vulgaris Trifolium repens Trees: Acer platanoides Aesculus hippocastanum Castanea sativa Prunus avium Tilia cordata

8.3 Visualizations Today only those find De BijenBoerderij who are looking for it. The entrance area towards De BijenBoerderij is of crucial importance for the acknowledgement of the beefarm, it needs to be inviting and informative. I propose a flower-rich semi-public setting, which is pleasant to enter, and creates the feeling of a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;placeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The open gates are giving the impression that we enter a domain belonging to De BijenBoerderij, directly from the main street. The place provides benches and tables to rest on, chestnuts to collect and fruits to pick; reinforcing the feeling of generous hospitality.

Currently the ‘main square’ of Strijbeek is entoured with a dense hedge, separating it from the main road of the village. Opening it up in the design makes the square an integrated element of the streetscape, and it creates space for pedestrian use. By removing the hedge and the tree row, and replacing the narrow paths with a broad gravel cover, the experience of driving on the road is changing from ‘passing by’ to ‘passing through’ the square. The chapel and the statue are visually reinforcing each other, and the layered vegetation provides them with a nice background. A path disappearing in the wood invites people to enter the landscape, it is a good point to depart from or arrive to after a walk in the surroundings.

9. Conclusion Bees are especially good model species for growing environmental awareness, due to their long history in human cultures. Every third bite of food is dependent on their pollination services, thus their (agro-)ecological role is essential for the whole ecosystem. Bees are in a threatening decline though, both in numbers and diversity.

leading from Strijbeek, through the agricultural fields, into the Strijbeekse Heide. The different zones of land use, such as ‘human settlement’, ‘agriculture’ and ‘nature’ require different approaches and design strategies. Through this path, various biotopes, vegetation-structures and management techniques can be observed and experienced.

The objective of this research was to explore through spatial interventions, in what ways can honey and bees, as local slow products, can trigger rich biodiversity and habitat for both domesticated and wild bees in the landscape of Strijbeek, while growing agro-environmental awareness.

Within Strijbeek, the design focuses on connecting the landscape with the village and De BijenBoerderij. A new main square and an impressive entrance-area to the bee-farm are both made to provide food for bees, and to be inviting for hikers and nature lovers.

In the municipality of Alphen-Chaam, in Strijbeek, there is a local initiative which can be used as a basepoint for a landscape design to raise the bee population again. De BijenBoerderij, a bee-center producing honey, selling tools and organizing educational activities; can be the connection from biodiversity, wild bees and nature to honeybees, bee-farming and the role of bees in agriculture.

Creating a good environment for bees is only the first step though. On one hand, further investigation is recommended into the private stakes in the area. On the other hand, the educational value of the trail can be further improved by interactive elements giving direct information of bees and biodiversity. For evaluating future outcomes, monitoring and the continuation of such researches in the area are required.

The research findings about biodiversity planning, the dutch EHS and the local bee fauna have led to a conceptual design of natural habitats and green structures. The different habitat-types are organized around a walking path

10. Limitations One of the main limitation factors is time. On one hand, the time-frame of the research (4 weeks) strongly restricted the depth of the research. On the other hand, for a better understanding of the social and landscape dynamics, a research through a longer time period would be necessary, investigating the same questions in different seasons throughout several years. This is especially relevant for the observations, since they were made (additionally to the course excursion) in two days at the selected location. A limitation coming from the nature of such a research, that is has a certain focus, thus the complexity of the problem is limited. In such an environment as Strjbeek, an ecological research might result in a design lacking in sociocultural understanding of the place, or in data about the use of different infrastructures, etc. Another major limitation of this research is the lack of local, tacit knowledge. For the best educational design solutions, a better intuition about local attitudes and habits would be useful. Furthermore, the knowledge on human networks (eg. educators, active citizens, current civil/school programmes), and on specific ‘key points’ in the landscape, would enrich and strengthen the results of this research.

Since private land is also influenced by the landscape design, local stakes needs to be investigated. Both for the streetscape of Strijbeek, where the semi-public spaces can clash with the level of privacy; and both in the agricultural fields, where the proposed management needs to be realised by the landowners. It must be mentioned too, that the interview was conducted in English language, which is neither the native language of the interviewee, nor that of the interviewer. Likewise, some sources of the literature study (websites, brochures, books) are in Dutch, thus their re-interpretation by a non-Dutch 45 speaker – despite her best intentions – can be imprecise. Last but not least, although the triangulation of sources and methods are sufficient, the triangulation of researchers is not arranged. This research is an individual project, thus the selection of sources and use of data is reflecting the specific theoretical framework of the researcher.

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Peeters, T. M. J. and Reemer, M. (2003) ‘Bedreigde en verdwenen bijen in Nederland (Apidae S.L.) – Basisrapport met voorstel voor de Rode Lijst’, European Invertebrate Survey - Nederland, Leiden. [Available online at: <http://www.repository. naturalis.nl/document/46554> Accessed 15th of May, 2013] Peeters, T. M. J., Raemakers, Ivo P; Smit, Jan (1999) ‘Voorlopige atlas van de Nederlandse bijen (Apidae)’, European Invertebrate Survey - Nederland, Leiden. [Available online at: <http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/46387> Accessed 16th of May, 2013] Petrini, C. (2003) Slow Food: the case for taste, COLUMBIA University Press. Slow Living Group 1 / Bours, D; Oosterhaven, R; Francis, V; Grömling, E. & Marchese, L. (2013) - ‘Alphen-Chaam: a balanced way of living’; Interview with Jeroen Evers, Appendix 8 on p. 67. Presented in the course Atelier Landscape Architecture and Planning, Wageningen University Slow Living Group 2 / Creemers, M; Dolders, T; Gyertyán, F; van Gils, F. & SoléFigueras, L. (2013) - ‘The Landscape’s taste: Slow Food, Lifestyle and Authenticity in Alphen-Chaam’; Presented in the course Atelier Landscape Architecture and Planning, Wageningen University Westrich, Paul (1996) – ’The conservation of Bees’; The Linnean Society of London

and The International Bee Research Association. [Available at: <http://wildbienen. info/downloads/westrich_40.pdf>, Accessed 13th of May, 2013] Zaai een Blomenakker (2013) [pdf document], local initiative by Vlaams Brabant (vlaamsbrabant.be/landbouw). Available online at <http://www.vlaamsbrabant.be/ economie-landbouw/land-en-tuinbouw/voor-landbouwers-en-gemeentebesturen/ advies-landschapsintegratie/nieuws-zaai-een-bloemenakker.jsp> Websites Biology online (2013) – [online] Available at: <http://www.biology-online.org/ dictionary/Habitat> [Accessed 11th May 2013] Cittaslow (2013) – [online] Available at: <http://www.cittaslow.org/> [Accessed 09th May 2013]. De BijenBoerderij (2013) [Online] Available at <http://www.bijenboerderij.nl/> [Accessed 09th May 2013]. Drachtplantenkalender (2013) [online] Available at: <http://www.drachtplanten.nl/> [Accessed 14th May, 2013] Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2013) [online] Available at: <http:// www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/awareness> [Accessed 14th May, 2013] Muncipality of Alphen-Chaam, 2013. [online] Available at:<http://www.alphen-chaam. nl/> Accessed 20th March 2013]. Plaatsengids (2013) [online] Available at: <http://www.plaatsengids.nl/ bezienswaardigheid/strijbeek/sint-hubertuskapel> [Accessed 24th May, 2013] Slow Food, 2013. [online] Available at: <http://www.slowfood.com/> [Accessed 11th May 2013]. The Franklin Institute (2013) [online] Available at: <http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/ habitat/habitat.html> [Accessed 13th May 2013] Interview Jeroen Evers (2013) - The interview with Jeroen Evers is available online at <https:// soundcloud.com/fruzs-1/interview-with-j-evers-2013>

12. Attachments

Attachment 1. : Conceptual design Attachment 2. : Landscape design for Strijbeek

Attachment 1. - Conceptual design STRIJBEEK, THE PLACE TO BEE LAR 60318, Atelier Landscape Architecture and Planning 04.06.2013 by: Fruzsina Gyertyรกn

nature | CONSERVATION

dry grassLAND

Agriculture | MANAGEMENT

HEATHLAND

human settlement | DESIGN FOR AWARENESS

Forest edges

3. 5.

wet meadow

Flowering meadow

goudberg

Goudbergseweg

strijbeek

Forest Water Tree nursery Buildings

200m walking path

flowery edges

flowering meadow

dry grassland

trees

naturally managed agricultural fields

wet meadow

heathland

fruit-orchard and flowering meadow SEmi-public front gardens

ri St

This semi-public space invites visitors for a break. Pic-nic tables, colorful flowers and chesnut & cherry trees make this space especially pleasant.

e jbe e ks g we

Existing garden of De bijenboerderij The garden is showcasing the connection between bees and the plants we use in our daily life (fruits, vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, decorative flowers). The aim is that visitors realise that bees need certain plants, but some plants also need the bees for seeding.

Opening up the front gardens by leading the walking path across them - the street-scape immediately gains spatial variation.

St. hubertus Statue and water source The new statue serves two functions. On one hand it is a focal point in the square, especially catching the eye of the drivers coming from the South. On the other hand, the statue also serves as water source, which is of extreme relevance for hikers passing by.

St. hubertus chapel The chapel has been built in 1872, replacing a bigger chapel which was demolished due to its costly management. , It’s situated on the ‘main square’ of Strijbeek, and it is the most important landmark of the village. Giving it space in the design enhaces the importance of it both visually and spatially.

r oe

ergsew

Goudb LEGEND

Tree Existing trees in private gardens Forest Shrubs Naturalistic flower-rich plantation Lawn with wild flowers Pond Gravel

Attachment 2. - Landscape design for Strijbeek

Asphalt road and cycling/mixed paved path Pic-nic table, bench, fence

STRIJBEEK, THE PLACE TO BEE LAR 60318, Atelier Landscape Architecture and Planning 04.06.2013 by: Fruzsina Gyertyán

Buildings

50m

100m