Viktor Szigeti, a research fellow at the Institute of Ecology and Botany of HUN-REN CER, has been awarded a grant from the STARTING sub-programme of the National Research Excellence Programme, for the research project “Flowers and pollinators for buzzing cities”. The main objective of the STARTING sub-programme is to provide funding for postdoctoral researchers to start their independent research careers and to strengthen research creativity and excellence. (The National Research Excellence Programme replaced the previous OTKA calls in 2024.)

The 4-year research grants will be used for research on pollinating insects, as outlined below.

Pollinators play a fundamental role in nature and human life. Nowadays, the pressure to protect pollinating insects is shifting from farmlands to cities. They can be supported by maintaining semi-natural habitats and introducing novel techniques, such as less frequent mowing, flower sowing, and bee hotels. Through these interventions, cities could offer diverse environments, benefiting both pollinators’ and human well-being. However, the lack of evidence for novel solutions may trigger counterproductive ‘bee washing’ processes. Ecological research on urban pollination is in the spotlight with outstanding public interest. Therefore, researchers, local and (inter)national authorities are under pressure to develop and monitor pollinator-promoting interventions.

Our project aims to study urban pollinators by five priorities:

1) Explore the effectiveness of pollinator-promoting interventions;

2) Disentangle local and landscape-scale factors;

3) Develop simple sampling methods;

4) Investigate microclimate dependencies; and

5) Work on European and global-level syntheses.

To achieve these, we are monitoring flowers and pollinators in parks, road verges, and ‘bee pastures’ (in Budapest from 2021); developing novel interventions and a citizen-science mobile application; collaborating in EU-level research. These studies also embrace the ambitious vision of creating multi-functional, resilient, and green infrastructures. Overall, we are a small but emerging team, looking forward, challenging boundaries, and exploring innovative solutions for urban pollinators. This grant offers the opportunity to share captivating stories of cities buzzing with people, flowers, bees and butterflies.

Photo: Márton Kállai