Learning for pollinators
The National Biodiversity Data Centre provides a range of pollinator-related learning opportunities which Biodiversity Champions, Sustainability or Green Teams in your business can begin to explore.
FREE ONLINE COURSES
- Species related – bumblebees, solitary bees, birds, butterflies etc. – National Biodiversity Data Centre
- Sponsoring in the local community? Provide the sponsor-recipient or the contractor with the following: Managing Communities for Pollinators and Managing school grounds for biodiversity
- Farm suppliers & growers? Pollinator-friendly farming and Farmland Pollinator Friendly Hedgerows
TRAINING EVENTS, WORKSHOPS & FESTIVALS
WEBINARS
- 19 August – LIVE Teams webinar with Pollinator Plan Programme Manager, Sarah Larragy | Select tickets – Webinar: The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan 2026-2030: What‘s new and how to get involved – Microsoft Teams. A recording will be uploaded here post event.
- General starter webinar for businesses
- Employees/members/gardeners
- ‘How to track pollinators with FIT Counts (Flower-Insect-Timed-Counts) in 10 minutes’ – with Michelle Larkin
- Gardening for Biodiversity with the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan – with Kate Chandler
- Protecting your Garden from Invasive Species – with Kate Moore
- Sustainability/ Green Teams
- Agri-food / processors
- Ecologists – Ecological Data Standards webinar
This webinar is for ecologists receiving public funding i.e. if this funding requires the ecologist to submit data to the National Biodiversity Data Centre.
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- 04:00-16:00 Habitat Mapping Data Standards: Public sector context by Catherine Casey – Head of Climate Change, Heritage Council. Practical questions to consider if commissioning a survey or delivering publicly funded habitat mapping. Questions such as: (1.) Can the data integrate without re-structuring? Can this habitat layer be integrated directly with other spatial data sets without substantial structural modification. (2.) Is the method transparent? Does the data set together with its metadata make it clear how the mapping was carried out? At what scale? What level of confidence? Is all of that transparent and recorded? Will it stand up in 5 or 10 years? AND (3.) Will it be interpretable and usable in 5 years’ time, in or 10 years’ time by someone who wasn’t involved in the original survey. Does it stand up to that test of time?
- 16:01-21:30 How the National Biodiversity Data Centre supports Local Authorities in managing LBAF and other survey data by Aaron Skehan – Local Authority Biodiversity Data Liaison Officer, National Biodiversity Data Centre.
- 21:31-38:40 Species Occurrence Data Standards by Jon Hawkins – Head of Digital Services, National Biodiversity Data Centre.
CITIZEN SCIENCE – scientifically robust initiatives to learn more about pollinators
- Flower-Insect-Timed Counts (FIT Counts) – track the abundance of bumblebees and butterflies April-October. Entry level/no experience necessary.
- Bumblebee Monitoring Scheme – track bumblebees each month March-October. Intermediate level/no experience necessary.
- Submit a single ‘casual’ record of a bumblebee
RESEARCH
- Participate in current farmer research with the ‘Ask the Farmer’ project run by Fernanda PhD student, Fernanda Azevedo of Trinity College Dublin.
- Ask a Farmer aims to understand what influences a farmer’s adoption (or barriers to participation) of conservation practices (pollinators/biodiversity) on their land. To find out more email Fernanda Azevedo directly [email protected]
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Ask a Farmer anonymous survey – 10 minutes of your time https://tcdecon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2485KNT6UT16wBw
- If you pass it on to 3 (or more) contacts, you can indicate in your AIPP Business Supporters’ Annual Review 2026 submission that you have completed Action 33 Invest in pollinator-friendly, nature-positive research projects on the island of Ireland per the AIPP Businesses: actions to help pollinators guidelines.
POSTERS | SWATCH | RESOURCES
CASE STUDIES | ANNUAL REVIEW | BLOGS | RESOURCES
Discover how others are interacting with the AIPP through:
- ~Case studies » All-Ireland Pollinator Plan
- ~Annual Review business supporters » All-Ireland Pollinator Plan
- Blog Archives » All-Ireland Pollinator Plan
FURTHER BIODIVERSITY RESOURCES
Discover more about biodiversity with the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s resources including the quarterly magazine