As part of the project “Pollinators to the Rescue! – a local action for the climate and biodiversity”, carried out in cooperation with the E.ON Foundation in Poland, we visited the Oliwska Care Home in Warsaw. The heroes of this initiative were senior residents – and it is hard to imagine better proof that engagement with nature has no upper age limit.
Building as Training – Not Only for the Hands
Assembling insect hotels is a task that engages the whole body and mind. Carefully selecting materials, filling holes with bamboo tubes, pine cones, or bark, operating a screwdriver – all of these activities require focus, coordination, and manual dexterity. For seniors, this type of activity is particularly meaningful, as regularly exercising fine motor skills supports hand function, concentration, and hand-eye coordination.
During the workshops, this was visible at every turn. Some participants handled the screwdrivers without any difficulty; others needed our support – but everyone, at their own pace and in their own way, engaged in the work with full commitment and patience. The seniors were happy to help one another, sharing ideas and offering support in trickier moments. And when it came time to fill the hotels with natural materials, imagination knew no limits. Each group had their own vision of the perfect home for pollinators.
A Garden as a Living Laboratory
What sets this initiative apart from others is the remarkable continuity between the action and its effect. The finished hotels will go into the facility’s garden – a place that the seniors visit every day, where they spend time and observe the changing seasons.
This means the story does not end with the workshops. Every bee or bumblebee that finds shelter in one of the hotels will become part of the daily life of the home’s residents. The seniors will be able to observe whether the hotels become inhabited, when the first insects appear, and how the garden changes with their presence. The garden thus becomes a living laboratory, and the seniors its attentive observers.
Agency Has No Age
The “Pollinators to the Rescue!” project shows that caring for biodiversity and the climate is not reserved exclusively for younger generations. The seniors proved that engagement, curiosity, and a sense of agency – the awareness that with our own hands we can create something of value for nature – matter at every stage of life.
Insect hotels also have an educational dimension: they show that supporting nature does not always require major investment or spectacular gestures. Sometimes it begins with a simple, well-thought-out action that can be implemented in a garden, a yard, or a park. And that stays there for years.
At One More Tree Foundation, we believe that this is exactly how genuine ecological education begins: with knowledge that leads to action, and action that builds responsibility – regardless of age.
The project was carried out with funding from the E.ON Foundation in Poland as part of the “E.ON Connects Energy for the Climate” grant programme.
