2016 ECO-Award honours innovative inner-city community-service group, Hives for Humanity
Calgary – The Environmental Studies Association of Canada (ESAC) is pleased to announce the 2016 winner of its annual Environmental Community Organizer (ECO) Award: Hives for Humanity. This non-profit, community-service organization connects people to nature, community and themselves in a singular and powerful way: beekeeping! The group’s work is guided by its core belief that the key to fostering healthy communities and healthy ecosystems is developing individual self-worth and community pride “through the opportunity to connect to nature and each other.”
“Hives for Humanity exemplifies the work recognized by this award,” declared Geo Takach, on behalf of ESAC’s awards committee. The jury was impressed by the group’s innovative, inclusive and supportive approach, and called HfH a model of collaborative effort in building diverse communities of beekeepers, gardeners, teachers, chefs, brewers, advocates, nurses, community activists, leaders and volunteers.
Hives for Humanity (HfH) works with highly vulnerable populations in a highly urbanized area often seen as characterized by poverty and crime, the downtown east side of Vancouver, BC. In pursuing its vision of “healthy communities connected through the culture of the hive,” HfH epitomizes the ideals of environmental studies, taking a holistic approach that encompasses the social, built and natural environments. It supports the natural environment by providing education and habitat for pollinators; improves the built environment through the creation and support of local green spaces like community gardens; and helps to improve social environments through its work with community members.
ESAC’s ECO-Award honours outstanding contributions of individuals or groups working together to build partnerships and networks within the field of environmental studies, who increase environmental awareness through education and outreach, and who promote the mobilization of knowledge and research into action and practice. Winners receive a cash award of $1000, a one-year membership in ESAC and a subscription to Alternatives Journal (“Canada’s environmental voice”), and are invited to give a keynote address at ESAC’s next annual conference (Toronto, 2017). This year’s award was presented during ESAC’s annual conference, part of the 2016 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held at the University of Calgary.
For more information
Veronica Wahl, ESAC president (vwahl@douglascollege.ca)
Geo Takach, ESAC board member and ECO-Award committee chair (geo.takach@royalroads.ca)
ESAC’s Awards Committee included past president Chris Ling and board member Carolyn Peach Brown. ESAC appreciates the media sponsorship for the ECO-Award kindly provided by Alternatives Journal.
This post is also available as a press release (PDF)