The entomological workshop „World of insects around us” was held at the Hydrobiological Station of the Nencki Institute in Mikołajki on 5^th-11^th September 2017. The main aims of the workshop consisted in popularization of various aspects of entomology, modern methods of behavioural research, and principles of sustainable development. The workshop also provided a contribution to the celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Nencki Institute. 

The workshop was organized jointly by the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology PAS (in particular, Laboratory of Ethology and Hydrobiological Station in Mikołajki), Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (Entomological Section of the Student Scientific Club of Biologists and Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology), Centre for Promotion of the Eco-development (Poznań), the company Noldus Information Technology (The Netherlands), the leading developer of professional software and instrumentation for behavioural research, and Polish Ethological Society. Numerous other institutions also acted as partners during the organization of the workshop: Student Scientific Club „Apis” from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS in Warsaw, Research Station of the Institute of Parasitology PAS at Kosewo Górne, Silesian Branch of the Polish Entomological Society, Foundation Our Earth, Masurian Landscape Park, Forest District Maskulińskie, Markiewicz Show Gardens and Butterfly House in Marcinkowo, and the company AdMedia graphic designs Olga Szyperska. Financial and/or material help was also provided by numerous other Polish and foreign sponsors including the Gesellschaft deutschsprachiger Odonatologen (GdO), educational web portal Media Nauka, online shops Eksperymentuj.pl, Przyrodnicze.pl and tropicalinsects.com, zoological shop ZooFaktor, entomological shop Paradox Company (Cracow), Majkowski Woodworking Company (Cracow), Commerce and Production Cooperative Mikołajki, photocopy service Ksero-ochota.pl (Warsaw), the company Dilmah distributing tea, and the company Gustaw s.c. Halina Góralska Karol Góralski, the producent of the mineral water „Staropolska”.

The Organizing Committee of the workshop included Adam Tarkowski, M.Sc., from the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (acting as the main coordinator), Beata Symonowicz, M.Sc., and prof. Ewa J. Godzińska from the Laboratory of Ethology of the Nencki Institute (acting, respectively, as the coordinator of content and programme issues and the scientific supervisor), and three further persons responsable for the contacts with potential sponsors: Maciej Nielubowicz, M.Sc. (Warsaw), Katarzyna Frankowska, M.Sc. (volunteer at the Centre for Promotion of the Eco-development, Poznań) and Martyna Zwoińska, M.Sc. (University of Uppsala, Sweden). Honorary patronage over the workshop was assumed by Piotr Jakubowski, the Mayor of Mikołajki, and prof. Kazimierz Trębacz, the Dean of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. Media patronage was assumed by two radio stations, Polish Radio Lublin and Academic Radio Kampus from Warsaw.

The staff of the workshop consisted of entomologists and/or enthusiasts of insect photography from all over the country (Będzin: Aneta Kulis, M.Sc.; Białystok: Dr Tomasz Włodarczyk, Lublin: Adam Tarkowski, M.Sc.; Marcinkowo near Mrągowo: Magdalena Markiewicz, M.Sc.; Ostróda: Zbigniew Salwin, B.Eng.; Poznań: Agnieszka Błasiak, M.Eng.;  Wrocław: Paweł Migdał, M.Sc. and Warsaw: prof. Marek W. Kozłowski, Maciej Nielubowicz, M.Sc., prof. Jerzy R. Woyke and five members of the research team of the Laboratory of Ethology of the Nencki Institute: prof. Ewa J. Godzińska, dr Julita Korczyńska, Stefan Hornostaj, M.Sc., Paweł J. Mazurkiewicz, M.Sc., and Beata Symonowicz, M.Sc.). Two renowned entomologists from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, the worldwide famous bee expert prof. Jerzy R. Woyke, and prof. Marek W. Kozłowski, well known for his achievements in the art of filming insects and their behaviour, participated in the workshop as the guests of honour. During the workshop Professor Woyke celebrated his 92^th anniversary.

The participants of the workshop arrived from all over the country, too (Cracow, Kosewo Górne near Mrągowo, Łódź, Poznań, Słupsk, Warsaw and Wrocław). Altogether, 32 persons took part in the workshop as participants and/or members of the staff, if to count also Tomasz Janecki, the Head of the Hydrobiological Station of the Nencki Institute in Mikołajki and a well known polar explorer, who delivered the lecture „It cannot be any colder… Life in the coldest waters of the world. The Antarctic”, Albert Willemsen, account manager from the Noldus Information Technology (The Netherlands), who participated in the workshop via video conference, and Jakub Kotnarowski, M.Sc. (Centre for Promotion of the Eco-development, Poznań), who co-authored one of the closing lectures.

The workshop started on the afternoon of 5^th September 2017. The opening part of the workshop, „Evening with Insects”, was open to the wide public. Two introductory lectures were delivered by Professor Ewa J. Godzińska from the Nencki Institute („One hundred years of the Nencki Institute: discovering the secrets of insect world”), and Dr Tomasz Włodarczyk from the University of Bialystok („Insects among us!”). Two exhibitions of insect macrophotographs were also opened during that evening (Maciej Nielubowicz, M.Sc. „Ant microcosm₃” and Zbigniew Salwin, B.Eng. „In front of my lens”) and then remained on display during the whole workshop. More informations about the Evening With Insects can be found in a separate report. 

During the workshop the participants attended altogether 14 lectures devoted to various aspects of entomology. The lectures delivered by the guests of honour were entitled „Management of the giant honeybee Apis dorsata and its behaviour in Nepal” (prof. Jerzy R. Woyke) and „Insects on the moving frames: actors and sightreaders” (prof. Marek W. Kozłowski). The participants of the workshop also became acquainted with the classical and recent research achievements of entomologists from the Nencki Institute, including the research on behaviour and ecology of the caddisfly larvae (Molanna angustata) carried out at the Hydrobiological Station of the Nencki Institute in Mikołajki by the fampus Polish biologist Jan Bohdan Dembowski and his coworkers: Andrzej Grębecki, Leszek Kuźnicki, Włodzimierz Kinastowski and Rasza Szlep. The informations about the research achievements of entomologists from the Nencki Institute were provided mostly in three lectures of prof. Ewa J. Godzińska, including the closing lecture „Why it is worthwile to study insects” prepared jointly with Stefan Hornostaj, M.Sc. Dr Julita Korczyńska also presented the results of her joint research with the Dutch entomologist Dr Abraham Mabelis devoted to the the impact of agricultural activities on ant biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Other lectures dealt with such topics as methods of collection and observation of insects in the field, biology, taxonomy and ethology of ants, biodiversity of butterflies and dragonflies, insect macrophotography, protection of insects and their habitats and principles of sustainable development.

The participants of the workshop also took part in numerous field and laboratory classes devoted to a wide range of issues including collecting, classification and preparation of insects (including collecting insects at night), identification of the common insect taxa, insect macrophotography and filming insect behaviour, major factors threatening the honeybee in its natural environment, and entomofauna of Mikołajki. They were also taught how to use the newest version of the programme for the analysis of behaviour and its recordings, „The Observer XT” (Noldus Information Technology) during the tutorials led by Paweł J. Mazurkiewicz, M.Sc., from the Nencki Institute and Albert Willemsen from the Noldus Information Technology, who participated in the workshop via video conference.

During the photographic competition held during the workshop altogether seven awards have been awarded, three in the category „Insect” (Viki Sabela, Filip Turza and Żaneta Steiner-Bogdaszewska), three in the category „Event” (Julita Korczyńska, Arkadiusz Chudzik and Łukasz Mioduszewski), and one in the category „The Best Photograph” (Viki Sabela). The participants of the workshop also visited the deer farm at the Research Station of the Institute of Parasitology PAS at Kosewo Górne, and made a short field excursion on the grounds of the Masurian Landscape Park. They also participated in board games, late evening social gatherings at the bonfire, and dance and movement classes led by Beata Symonowicz on each morning.

More informations about the workshop can be found or will soon appear on the main page of the workshop (https://entomologiaumcs.wixsite.com/warsztaty), on the webpages of the Hydrobiological Station Mikołajki of the Nencki Institute PAS (https://mikolajki.nencki.gov.pl/?p=2578) and of the company Noldus Information Technology (http://www.noldus.com/event/warsztaty-entomologiczne-workshop-2017), and on the pages of the workshop, of the Hydrobiological Station Mikołajki of the Nencki Institute PAS, and of the Polish Ethological Society in the Facebook.