{{short description|Interactive biodiversity project in Washington state}} {{Infobox organization | name = The Pollinator Pathway | image = The Pollinator Pathway project-getting ready for next phase (8210156875).jpg | caption = Pollinator pathway native flower plot | formation = c. 2008 | founder = Sarah Bergmann | location = Seattle, Washington | num_volunteers = Volunteer planters and garden adopters (c. 20 gardens as of 2014) | website = {{url|pollinatorpathway.com}} }} '''The Pollinator Pathway''' is a participatory art, design and ecology social sculpture<ref name=Constant/> initiative founded by the artist and designer Sarah Bergmann. Its objective is to connect existing isolated green spaces and create a more hospitable urban environment for pollinators like bees with a system of ecological corridors of flowering plants by using existing urban infrastructure such as curb space and rooftops.
==Pathways== [[File:Pollinator Pathway Columbia Street.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The Columbia Street pollinator pathway segment near downtown Seattle, Washington runs east-west from Nora's Woods to Seattle University. A planned extension connects north to Volunteer Park.]]
The first pollinator pathway ({{coord|47|36|33.60|N|122|18|26.40|W|display=inline|type:landmark}}) is located on Seattle, Washington's east-west Columbia Street, and connects Seattle University's campus on 12th Avenue to Nora's Woods on 29th Avenue {{convert|1|mi|spell=in}} away, crossing one third of Seattle's width.<ref name=seattlemag/><ref name=good/> A second {{convert|1.5|mile|adj=on}} long official pollinator pathway is slated for Seattle's north-south 11th Avenue, connecting Seattle University's campus to Volunteer Park.<ref name=capitolhilltimes/><ref name=arcade/>
The first segment of the pathway on Columbia Street, which Bergmann received grants from the City of Seattle, Northwest Horticultural Society, and Awesome Foundation to create,<ref name=nhs/><ref name=awesome/> replaced a {{convert|108|ft|adj=on}} long, {{convert|12|ft|adj=on}} grass strip between the street and sidewalk with plants that could attract pollinators.<ref name=seattletimes/><ref name=seattlepi/> The pathways are composed of individual plots of perennial native plant species on city-owned property, tended by local volunteers.<ref name=seattlepi/><ref name=easton/>{{refn|name=name|group=notes|"[T]he artist works with each homeowner along the Pathway, as well as with designers, entomologists, botanists, landscape designers, urban planners, students and a host of volunteers". (Seattle Art Museum [SAM])<ref name=sam/>}}
Bergmann had a related installation, ''Portal to The Pollinator Pathway'', at Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park in 2012.{{refn|group=notes|Described by SAM as "[a] garden containing native plants that attract pollinators such as bees, birds, and butterflies ... [that] provides a glimpse of a much more ambitious project".<ref name=sam/>}} In 2014, she made presentations on the project at Frye Art Museum and Seattle Tilth.<ref name=frye2014/><ref name=seattletilth2014/>
==Certification== Since late 2013, Bergmann has offered a certification program for new pathways to use the trademarked Pollinator Pathway name.<ref name=certification/>
==Other cities== Cities other than Seattle have explored the idea of connecting landscapes for pollinators. In 2008, about the same time the Seattle project was getting under way, the Canadian Pollination Initiative wrote a paper on a "pollinator park" concept to include "...right-of-way passages, including highways, power lines, gas lines and other maintained corridors can be designed in such a way that they serve as pollinator habitats."<ref name=Horn/>
In 2011, a New York author and artist Aaron Birk wrote an illustrated story, ''The Pollinator's Corridor'', about a pathway connecting the city's landscape.<ref name=Birk/>
===City–citizen discussions=== Several cities have used official means to initiate citizen discussions on their own pollinator pathways following Seattle's model, including Redmond, Washington; the Niagara Falls, New York area; and Los Angeles, California via the mayor's blog.<ref name=seattlecityblog/><ref name=redmondcityblog/><ref name=niagaragreenway/><ref name=lamayorblog/>
==Awards== In 2012, Bergmann received ''The Stranger'''s Genius Award and Seattle Art Museum's Betty Bowen Award for the project.<ref name=strangergenius/><ref name=cdnews/> In 2013, she was named one of Seattle's most influential people of the year by ''Seattle Magazine'', along with recipients of the award who had created other Seattle area pollinator conservation projects.<ref name=influential2013/>
== See also ==
* Decline in insect populations * Habitat fragmentation * Pollinator decline * Pollinator garden * Pollinator Partnership * Pollinator Pathway (organization) * Urban rewilding * Wildflower strip * Wildlife corridor * Wildlife garden
==Notes== {{reflist|30em|group=notes}}
==References== {{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Constant> {{citation|title=In Culture News: New Shabazz Palaces, New Art and Cultural Center in Pioneer Square, and a New Pollinator Pathway |author=Paul Constant |author2=Jen Graves |author3=Charles Mudede |author4=David Schmader | date=June 23, 2014 |newspaper=The Stranger}}</ref>
<ref name=seattlemag> {{citation|title=Scoop: Seattle's Pollinator Pathway|author=Eran Afner |date=October 2010|newspaper=Seattle Magazine|url=http://www.seattlemag.com/article/scoop-seattles-pollinator-pathway}}</ref>
<ref name=good> {{citation|title=Pollinator Pathway: Vital Ecology in the Emerald City|author=Theo Schell-Lambert|date=July 4, 2010|journal=Good|url=http://www.good.is/post/pollinator-pathway-vital-ecology-in-the-emerald-city/}}</ref>
<ref name=capitolhilltimes> {{citation|title=Pollinator pathway scheduled to span along 11th Avenue|newspaper=Capitol Hill Times|location=Seattle, Washington|author= Atoosa Moinzadeh|date=June 25, 2014|url=http://www.capitolhilltimes.com/2014/06/pollinator-pathway-scheduled-span-along-11th-avenue/}}</ref>
<ref name=seattletimes> {{citation|title=Native bees play bigger role as honeybees decline: Native pollinators such as bumblebees are gaining new appreciation as European honeybees, the pollination mainstay of commercial agriculture, continue to struggle.|author=Lynda V. Mapes|newspaper=The Seattle Times|date=August 26, 2009|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009738322_bee26m.html}}</ref>
<ref name=seattlepi> {{citation|title=Art as landscape: The Pollinator Pathway|date=October 31, 2008 | author=Regina Hackett|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|url=http://blog.seattlepi.com/art/2008/10/31/art-as-landscape-the-pollinator-pathway/}}</ref>
<ref name=sam> {{citation|title=Exhibit: Sarah Bergmann: Portal to the Pollinator Pathway|date=June 27 – September 16, 2012|publisher=Seattle Art Museum|url=http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Details?EventId=24398}}</ref>
<ref name=strangergenius> {{citation|title=Sarah Bergmann: 2012 Genius Award Winner for Art|author=Jen Graves|newspaper=The Stranger|url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/sarah-bergmann/Content?oid=14839609}}</ref>
<ref name=cdnews> {{citation|title=Artist behind Columbia Street's Pollinator Pathway honored by SAM, the Stranger|date=September 21, 2012 |author=Tom Fucoloro|newspaper=Central District News|url=http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2012/09/artist-behind-columbia-streets-pollinator-pathway-honored-by-sam-the-stranger/}}</ref>
<ref name=arcade> {{citation|journal=ARCADE|title=Mapping Desire Lines: From Richard Long's Walks to the Sinewy Paths of Smell|date=August 5, 2014|author=Elissa Favero|url=http://arcadenw.org/blog/mapping-desire-lines-from-richard-longs-walks-to-the-sinewy-paths-of-smell}}</ref>
<ref name=easton> {{citation|title=Cultivating a healthier Seattle, one garden at a time: The fate of our food supply depends on how hospitable our gardens are to pollinators.|author=Valerie Easton|date=January 29, 2011|journal=Pacific Northwest Magazine|publisher=The Seattle Times|url=http://o.seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2013980700_pacificplife30.html}}</ref>
<ref name=influential2013> {{citation|title=The Full List: Most Influential People of 2013|date=November 2013|journal=Seattle Magazine|url=http://www.seattlemag.com/gallery/full-list-most-influential-people-2013?page=18|quote=Lauren England, West Seattle Bee Garden; Sarah Bergmann; Pollinator Pathway, Bob Redmond, Urban Bee Company; Corky Luster, Ballard Bee Company}}</ref>
<ref name=certification> {{citation|title=Certification|author=Sarah Bergmann|work=Pollinator Pathway website|year=2014|url=http://www.pollinatorpathway.com/certification/}}</ref>
<ref name=awesome> {{citation|title=The Pollinator Pathway|date=April 2012|publisher=Awesome Foundation|url=http://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/projects/9293-the-pollinator-pathway}}</ref>
<ref name=nhs> {{citation|journal=Garden Notes|date=Summer 2012|publisher=Northwest Horticultural Society|editor=Judy Redmond|title=The Pollinator Pathway|author=Ann LeVasseur|page=3|quote=The pathway starts at Seattle University on 12th Avenue and stretches for a mile along Columbia Street to 29th Avenue where it ends at Nora's Woods, a native plants park. The neighborhood parking strips are being replaced with pollinator-friendly gardens of mostly native plants. To date, 12 gardens have been planted. The $2,500 grant from NHS will fund another garden.}}</ref>
<ref name=frye2014> {{citation|publisher=Frye Art Museum|work=Events calendar|title=Community + Family Day|date=August 2, 2014|url=http://fryemuseum.org/calendar/event/5569/}}</ref>
<ref name=seattletilth2014> {{citation|title=Seattle Residents Share Their Urban Farms with the Public for One Day: Seattle Tilth Offers 14th Chicken Coop & Urban Farm Tour on July 12|publisher=Seattle Tilth Association|work=Press release|date=Jun 18, 2014|url=http://seattletilth.org/press/press-releases/cooptourpr2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702082649/http://seattletilth.org/press/press-releases/cooptourpr2014|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 2, 2014}}</ref>
<!-- Other cities efforts follow --> <ref name=seattlecityblog>[http://frontporch.seattle.gov/tag/pollinator-pathway/ Seattle Department of Neighborhoods "front porch" blog]</ref>
<ref name=redmondcityblog> {{citation|title=Pollinator Pathways to Support Sustainability|date=May 24, 2012 |author=C. Dociu|work=Impact Redmond blog|publisher=City of Redmond|url=http://www.impactredmond.com/blog/pollinatorpathways/}}</ref>
<ref name=lamayorblog>[http://www.lamayor.org/129639/pollinator_pathway LA Mayor blog]</ref>
<ref name=niagaragreenway> {{citation|author=Submitted by Wild Ones Niagara|title=Pollinator Pathway Niagara Falls|publisher=Niagara River Greenway Commission|year=2011|url=http://www.niagaragreenway.org/sites/default/files/%281%20of%203%29%20Pollinator%20Pathways%20-%20Niagara%20Falls%2C%20NY.pdf|page=16}}</ref>
<ref name=Birk> {{citation|title=The Pollinator's Corridor|date=January 1, 2011|author=Aaron Birk|publisher=Black Willow Productions|edition=First|isbn=978-0615562919}}</ref>
<ref name=Horn> {{citation|title=Pollinator Park: The Pathway to Pollination Protection (Pollinator Workshops, March 7th & 8th, 2008, Guelph, ON)|date=March 2008|author=Marianna Horn|publisher=Canadian Pollination Initiative<!--http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/-->|url=http://ward2guelph.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/march_2008_pollinator_workshop_final_report1.pdf}}</ref>
}}
==Further reading== *{{citation|title=Pollinator pathway buzzes as spring nears|author=Sheldon Costa|newspaper=The Spectator (Seattle University)|date=April 16, 2014|url=http://www.seattlespectator.com/2014/04/16/pollinator-pathway-buzzes-as-spring-nears/}} *{{citation|journal=Seattle Metropolitan|title=The Botany of Urban Desire: Sarah Bergmann's Pollinator Pathway combines art, ecology, and urban planning. Just don't call it a bee thing.|date=May 1, 2014|author=James Ross Gardner|url=http://www.seattlemet.com/home-and-garden/articles/the-botany-of-urban-desire-may-2014}} *{{citation|title=Part Science, Part Art, Pollinator Pathway Connects Seattle Green Spaces|author=Deena Prichep|date=July 9, 2012|publisher=NPR|work=The Salt blog|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/07/09/156487298/part-science-part-art-pollinator-pathway-connects-seattle-green-spaces}} *{{citation|journal=Grist|title=Bee boulevard: An urban corridor becomes a haven for native pollinators|author=Claire Thompson|date=September 19, 2012 |url=http://grist.org/cities/bee-boulevard-how-to-turn-an-urban-corridor-into-a-haven-for-native-pollinators/}} *Tracey Byrne (February 14, 2015) [http://www.beepeeking.com/blog/pollinator-pathwayrwhat-is-it-really-about Pollinator Pathway® What Is It ''Really'' About?] BeePeeking: online journal promoting environmental stewardship and the enhancement of urban ecosystems
==External links== {{Commons category|Pollinator Pathway}} *{{Official website|http://www.pollinatorpathway.com/|The Pollinator Pathway official website}} *{{Youtube|zGH3Lkr0vso|Sarah Bergmann Portal to the Pollinator Pathway by Seattle Art Museum}} *{{Youtube|uRYPfRqhu6E|Sarah Bergmann TEDx talk}} (2015)
{{Pollination management}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollinator Pathway}} Category:Geography of Seattle Category:Pollination management Category:Landscape architecture Category:Ecological connectivity Category:Insect conservation Category:Invertebrates and humans