We all know how difficult it can be to find the perfect name for your kids. But when the name is given, all agree it is the right name. And after years, some will ask “how did the name come about?”
We asked Cecilia, the BeeGuards coordinator (or queen 😉): “Who invented the project name?”
Cecilia tells the story that at the beginning of the consortium building many different partners were invited for the initial fase, where ideas were created. In such a process you need a name: it is simply too difficult to keep many people together and focused when talking about a project that has no name. During the discussions everybody uses different names generating confusion. So, a name was needed to give us an identity.
The roots of the consortium stem from collaboration within COLOSS and from accomplished successful projects. Many members of the COLOSS Task Force on Sustainable Bee Breeding (RNSBB -www.beebreeding.net, formerly COLOSS WG Diversity and vitality) and of the SMARTBEES and EURBEST (www.eurbest.eu) projects were invited to take part on a the Horizon Europe call on “Resilient beekeeping”.
Evgeniya Ivanova that we all call Genny from Bulgaria was invited as well. She is a kind person with a spiritual aura. She found the project very exciting, but due to personal matters she could not take part. But she left her foot print: she suggested the name “Bee Guards” to represent the fact that we all strongly want to protect all bees and their natural biodiversity.
So, we got the name from Genny in Bulgaria, even though she is not in our consortium physically – but in a certain sense, she is. Thank you Genny!
Picture above: From the left. Fani Hatjina (Greece), Cecilia Costa (Italy), Evgeniya Ivanova (Genny)(Bulgaria), Małgorzata Bieńkowska (Poland) and Marina Meixner (Germany)
