Beekeeping and Entrepreneurship A Guide Study on The Social Responsibility Dimension of Science

Abstract

Düzce University has transformed the Yığılca bee, which is a local natural resource of the region, into a commercial and socio-economic value through the application of scientific knowledge and a wide cooperation project. As a result of the projects carried out in cooperation with Düzce University, Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, Directorate of Forestry, Düzce Province and Yığılca District Organizations, Yığılca District Governorate, Yığılca Municipality, and Beekeepers' Association, Yığılca bee has started to become a brand, as well as the number of entrepreneurs increased, especially young people and women, in the field of beekeeping. Within the scope of these projects, beekeepers were trained, and production capacity, quality, and diversity were increased. With the mobile beekeeping training service implemented for the first time in our country, the university provided training and support services to beekeepers in non-central settlements. Beekeeping Research, Development, and Application Center was established, and a honey production forest was created around the center. The first part of this work, which includes transforming the Yığılca bee into a value, was awarded the first prize in the Developing the Entrepreneurial Spirit category among 399 projects that applied to the European Entrepreneurship Awards. The study covers entrepreneurial activities that will set an example in the field of beekeeping. This work examines a project implemented under the leadership of Düzce University to support socio-economic development by transforming a local natural resource into value through the application of scientific knowledge and with the cooperation of central-local government-civil society. The project started as a social responsibility project in an underdeveloped district in terms of socio-economic development and gained the identity of an entrepreneurship project by operating the cooperation networks well.