COPCAS 2024 - COP29

Click here to meet the COPCAS 2024 Team

COP Climate Action Studio 2024 is taking place during COP29 between the 11th and 22nd December 2024 hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan. This year, 18 PhD students take part in this COPCAS from the SCENARIO and FoodBioSystems Doctoral Training Partnerships.

collage of all copcas participants

As in previous years, a competition was run to select the SCENARIO and FoodBioSystems students who would attend the conference in person. This year three students from SCENARIO DTP, Theo Keeping, Thea Stevents and Juan Garcia Valencia along with one student from FoodBioSystems DTP, Lynn De Miranda, will attend COP29. The students will have full access to the conference’s Blue Zone as they hold ‘Observer’ passes.

During COP29 itself, an updated, and dedicated space will be made available for the COPCAS course in the Walker Institute, with face-to-face support from one member of the Walker Team during each session but also from the wider University of Reading community. Every weekday during COP29, the Climate Action Studio will be open from 08:45 am until 17:00 pm. Students from the Climate Action Studio will connect with students attending COP29 in Baku via MS Teams calls twice a day. Students on the ground will provid updates on the issues arising every day and report on sessions they attend as well as the general vibe of COP29.

COPCAS morning briefing; students in the studio connecting to students in Dubai

COP Climate Action Studio Blogs

We will be posting all blogs students create in this dedicated section. The titles, authors, and links to the blogs will be detailed below.

Demystifying COP Language

Demystifying COP Language

Written by Mahilet Berihun, Surrey University; Orestis Aslanidis, University of Reading; both PhD SCENARIO DTP students.

COP Climate Action Studio - Meet members of our team

The Walker Institute had valuable support from the Digital Campaigns and Engagement team from the University of Reading. We would like to extend our gratitude to Pete Castle, Ian Wilmot for providing students with insights into the workings of a newsroom and filming short videos for non-academic audiences. 

Here are some members of the COPCAS 2024 team: 

Featured Videos

COP Climate Action Studio Gallery

I very much enjoyed...

“Firstly, I think [attending COPCAS] will help me with any applications/ grant writing as they often have a ” general public section” and I think I will be much better at conveying my own work in this manner. Secondly, I think COPCAS has given me the confidence to approach my internship in policy head on. .”

Lynn de Miranda FoodBioSystems DTP student

I really felt like...

“[I gained] experience engaging with and communicating policy events to a wide range non-scientific audience and enjoyed the collaboration with other students creating written work.“

Megan Sherlock, Scenario DTP student

This has made me...

“There are so many events happening at COP it is difficult to keep up/track, but having someone you know there who you can talk to about their personal experiences is much more engaging than following along through external news channels.“

Emmeline Smith, Scenario DTP student

I learnt about...

“I learnt about interviewing skills and was able to gain awareness of my own strengths and weakness. I engaged and connected with many people in relevant fields and enjoyed being exposed to different ways of thinking and approaching the issues I am interested in.“

COPCAS student

I got exposed to...

“I gained new skills about science communication. I was also engaged more in COP. And I enjoyed my time with people in the studio and working on project together.“

Charlie Davies, Scenario DTP student

I got exposed to...

“Personally, the experience has increased my appetite for engaging with climate action. I have also been able to pursue creative projects alongside of this for which I am very grateful.”

Anonymous COPCAS 2023 student