DAY OF THE INSECTS

We want to encourage and inspire people and develop concrete approaches and ideas with them to rethink our relationship with insects.

DAY OF THE INSECTS 2025

FROM ASPHALT TO LIFE

Every day, an area the size of more than 40 football pitches is sealed in Germany – one of the reasons why there has been a 70% decline in the biomass of flying insects in Germany over the last 30 years. But without insects, humanity can only survive for a few months.

INSECT-RESPECT is organizing the 7th Day of Insects at the Umweltforum Berlin on 03.04.2025. The focus will be on action: our speakers will provide important impetus to unseal areas and promote biodiversity. Various radical practice stories will show how courageous projects are implementing this. Use the 7th Day of Insects to be inspired. Network with stakeholders from business, science, politics, culture and art and contribute your ideas and projects.

Registration

Tickets cost €75, students pay €35.

Statements on Insect Day

PROGRAM

Mornings

  • Prof. Dr. Dave Goulson – virtual greeting
  • Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen – Man, Earth. We could have it so beautiful
  • Prof. Dr. Josef Settele – Status of insect loss internationally
  • Prof. Dr. Mazda Adli, Dr. Katharina van Bronswijk, Dr. Joel Methorst & Healthy Earth Foundation – Healthy People – Biodiversity and Mental Health
  • Prof. Dr. Dagmar Haase – Sealing in the urban context
  • Remco Moen Marcar – Building a community for sustainable action

Moderation by Tina Teucher

Afternoon Summit of Radical Ideas – From Asphalt to Life, interactive workshops

  • Dr. Melanie von Orlow (NABU) & Dr. Josef Tumbrinck (Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation & Transport North Rhine-Westphalia) – Private renaturation made easy
  • Asphalt crackers plan Biodivers – Urban unsealing
  • Helge Jung (landscape gardener from INSECT-RESPECT) – hands-on construction site for an insect-friendly area

Further workshops will follow

Conclusion

  • Frank & Patrik Riklin – Instructions for unusual action
  • Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel – How the transformation succeeds

Aperitif & networking

OUR SPEAKERS on Insect Day 2025

DR. ECKART VON HIRSCHHAUSEN

DR. ECKART VON HIRSCHHAUSEN

Healthy Earth Foundation – Healthy People

PROF. DR. MAJA GÖPEL

PROF. DR. MAJA GÖPEL

Transformation researcher – Club of Rome

 

PROF. DR. JOSEF SETTELE

PROF. DR. JOSEF SETTELE

Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research

 

DR. JOSEF TUMBRINCK

DR. JOSEF TUMBRINCK

Ministry of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Haase

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Haase

Professor of Urban Ecology

FRANK & PATRIK RIKLIN

FRANK & PATRIK RIKLIN

Studio for special tasks

 

PROF. DR. MAZDA ADLI

Prof. Dr. Mazda Adli

PSYCHIATRIST & STRESS RESEARCHER

 

DR. HANS-DIETRICH RECKHAUS

DR. HANS-DIETRICH RECKHAUS

INSECT-RESPECT

 

DR. MELANIE VON ORLOW

DR. MELANIE VON ORLOW

Nabu Berlin

Asphalt crackers

Asphalt crackers

Plan Biodivers

 

 

Asphalt crackers - Naturama Aargau

Asphalt crackers - Naturama Aargau

Naturama Aargau

 

PAST CONFERENCES

Social design as a driver

Browse through our extensive text, image and video material from past Insect Day events.

Focus on culture

Day of Insects 2023, 30.03.2023 in Berlin. The sixth Day of Insects was a rousing, incisive and far-reaching experience for all of us. The encounters and discussions were carried by an emphatic, motivating and respectful spirit that allowed us to immerse ourselves deeply in the culture between humans and insects. We felt and understood that we can achieve great things together. We were joined by exciting, radical and passionate initiators, among others:

  • Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel
  • Prof. Dr. Harald Welzer

INSECT-RESPECT & BirdLife Switzerland

With an urgent appeal to adults, four young people from Wohlen AG demonstrated their commitment against insect extinction at the 2nd Swiss Insect Day. The multimedia conference documentation with 22 videos, 13 presentations and 22 texts by national and international speakers from research, politics, business and nature conservation can be found here. Over 300 people took part in the event organized by BirdLife Switzerland and INSECT RESPECT®.

Business focus: What can companies do to combat insect extinction
?

What are we doing to protect insects? The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and INSECT-RESPECT have joined forces to answer this question. All visitors to the research museum were invited to immerse themselves in the world of insects, and participants in the conference were also given plenty of inspiration on the topics of insect conservation and insect extinction. For example, the General Director of the museum, Prof. Johannes Vogel, admitted that the image of 5 to 12 for the protection of biodiversity is already a whitewash of the situation. Researchers and young entrepreneurs presented their results and projects and motivated the participants to network and stand up for insects. Supporters of the event included the REWE Group, the hk group, AIM, Europarc Deutschland and HektarNektar.

The multimedia conference documentation summarizes the conference in pictures, quotes and short articles. The lecture videos and presentation slides are also linked there.

1st Day of Insects in Switzerland

Representatives from science, business, civil society and the media were inspired by keynote speeches from experts and the panel discussion and exchanged views on insects and insect conservation during the World Café and networking breaks. Together with other renowned insect experts, Dr. Betrand Piccard and Dr. Hans Rudolf Herren informed the participants about insect mortality, current developments and possible solutions. In addition to short summaries and impressions, the multimedia conference documentation also contains links to the event videos.

In cooperation with namu e.V. and the Global Nature Fund

In action forums, a panel discussion and networking breaks, representatives from science, business, civil society and the media exchanged views on insects and insect conservation. Short presentations by experts inspired the participants to come up with new ideas and possible solutions. The multimedia conference documentation contains short summaries and impressions as well as links to the event videos.

1st day of the insects

To highlight the benefits of the six-legged friends and the ambivalent
relationship between humans and insects,
the Bielefeld Natural History Museum and INSECT-RESPECT entered into a cooperation in 2016. It includes joint environmental education, media reports and events. A monthly series on insects is published in the regional “Westfalenblatt” newspaper
with articles by Insect
Respect and namu.
The collaboration culminates in a
joint event: the “Day of Insects” on
30.3.2017 in Bielefeld. This provided a platform for the various
stakeholders on the topic of “Promoting insects”,
to present their projects and network to strengthen their
research and public relations work

INSECT-RESPECT