As the world gears up for the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP29), set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11-22, 2024, the stakes have never been higher. COP29 is arguably the most significant annual event in the climate policy calendar. This year’s conference is being hailed as the “finance COP,” reflecting the critical need to align climate finance with global needs.
For each COP, the Walker Academy runs a Climate Action Studio – COPCAS – where doctoral students can immerse themselves in the unfolding climate policy process and link up with participating students and staff who will attend COP in person.
Before COP, students participating in COPCAS receive interdisciplinary training designed to support their engagement in the COP process. The training enables doctoral students to remotely engage and virtually immerse themselves in COP, reach out to negotiators and participants on the ground, and help them to report on the developments of the conference, and its impacts, to diverse audiences.
The COP29 Climate Action Studio students have now taken part in two pre-COP29 workshops. The Walker Institute’s director, Prof. Rosalind Cornforth, provided an overview of the historical development of COP and the issues that need to be addressed for a successful COP29.
We were fortunate to have Pete Castle, the University of Reading’s External Communications & Public Relations Manager, who gave a crash course in running a Newsroom and in Blog writing . He also shared invaluable communication insights and highlighted ways in which students can work directly with the Press Office. Alongside Pete, we welcomed Ian Wilmot, Head of Digital Campaigns and Engagement, who provided students with ideas and suggestions on how to produce engaging outputs that will appeal to diverse audiences.
In the second workshop, led by Dr Celia Petty, Deputy Director of the Walker Institute, students learnt more about crafting communications in sensitive contexts, and how to get the most out of the Climate Action Studio by building a community of practice and extending their networks.
We look forward to welcoming our students to the Climate Action Studio for the start of COP. Make sure you stay in touch and look out for blogs and other outputs from COPCAS that can help you make sense of COP29 developments.
The Walker Academy Team