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Bees Without Borders: “Teambuilding With a Purpose” Workshop Offered

November 3 and 4. 

Gardeners, worksite teams, employee and volunteer groups and organizational leaders can learn valuable teambuilding skills in a unique three-hour experiential training Wednesday, November 3 on the UW-Madison campus.  Used in corporate, educational and community settings, “Teambuilding With a Purpose” has proven to be an attractive human resource tool for corporations, restaurant chains and university groups as well as small business employees.  

Morning and afternoon sessions will be held at the Red Gym, next to the Memorial Union on Langdon Street on the UW-Madison campus. 

From 9am-noon and 1:15-4:15pm trainers from Mexicali, Mexico and San Diego will lead teams of 4-6 through the process of building a beehive.  The completed frames will be donated to community gardening, sustainable agriculture and community development programs. 

A second afternoon of training is scheduled Thursday 3:30-6 at the Bayview Foundation Community Center.  Hives built at these events will be offered to the Community Action Coalition and the Community Food and Garden Network throughout Dane County as well as international programs. 

“Teambuilding With a Purpose” is a program of VolunTours, a non-profit development education effort which promotes service and learning.  Instructors include two women from an environmental education and community development program in the border region of Mexico and Southern California.  Co-leaders are David Clemmons, a corporate trainer, and Elisa Sabatini, executive director of Los Ninos, which hosts hundreds of North American professionals and students in cultural immersion experiences each year. 

Also referred to as “Bees Without Borders,” the training introduces topics related to immigration, global trade, systems theory and interdependence as well as division of labor. 

“This offers a fascinating learning opportunity and valuable skills we can use,” said Rick Brooks of the UW-Madison’s Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies. “Bees are incredibly important to our food system,“ he adds, “and what they know about organizing and working can help us all.” 

Teams are encouraged to make reservations early by contacting Katie Tully at kmtully@... .  $120 per team covers all cost of training, supplies and the hive itself.

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