Hyundai Engineering said on the 21st that it held an opening ceremony for "Plan Bee Garden No. 2" at Boramae Park in Dongjak District, Seoul, on the 20th to mark World Bee Day. The event was attended by Song Myung-suk, head of Hyundai Engineering's marketing strategy office, Kim Young-hwan, Director General of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Garden City Bureau, Oh Hee-young, head of the Just Peace Foundation, and Park Jin, head of Urban Bees Seoul.
Plan Bee is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) project by Hyundai Engineering that pursues "helping beneficiaries' self-reliance and growth by spreading the value of space and energy." It aims to help both the ecosystem and people lead sustainable lives by providing new "space" for honeybees losing habitats due to climate change, "energy for growth" in the form of beekeeping job training for the underprivileged, and "healing energy" in the city for visitors.
For the creation of this second garden, the Seoul Metropolitan Government provided a site within Boramae Park to establish a honeybee habitat, and Hyundai Engineering, together with the Just Peace Foundation and the urban beekeeping social venture Urban Bees Seoul, will carry out honeybee habitat creation, urban apiary operations, and experience and job training programs.
Earlier, in May last year, Hyundai Engineering opened the first habitat at Bukseoul Dream Forest in Gangbuk District, Seoul, successfully settling about 100,000 honeybees and providing citizens with a place to rest.
The second garden created at Boramae Park in Dongjak District introduced a "natural meadow-type planting method" centered on diverse nectar plants to enable year-round ecological circulation. In particular, solar-powered lighting will be installed within the garden to operate it as an energy-friendly space, and an urban apiary will be established on the roof of the park management building to serve as a hub for ecological education.
Following Plan Bee Garden No. 1, the second garden also focuses on helping people with borderline intelligence, who are in the blind spots of welfare, achieve practical self-reliance. It provides structured support by offering beekeeping job training for them and enabling them to directly manage the habitat so they can grow as members of society.
Hyundai Engineering plans to create a total of three habitats by 2027 to continuously expand opportunities for self-reliance among the underprivileged.