Participants of COP Climate Action Studio 2024
COP Climate Action Studio 2024 took place during COP29 between the 11th and 22nd December 2024 hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan. This year, 18 PhD students attended COPCAS from the SCENARIO and FoodBioSystems Doctoral Training Partnerships.
Prof. Robert Van de Noort visited the Climate Action Studio.
During COP29 itself, an updated, and dedicated space was 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 was open from 08:45 am until 17:30 pm. Students from the Climate Action Studio connected with students attending COP29 in Baku via MS Teams calls twice a day. Students on the ground provided updates on the issues arising every day and reported on sessions they attended as well as on the general vibe of COP29.
Prof. Parveen Yaqoob visited the Climate Action Studio.
This year the COP Climate Action Studio was run again as a virtual Newsroom where students were encouraged to chase down leads and craft engaging stories around their research interest and the climate policy events unfolding at COP29. Students used a virtual whiteboard / Mural Board which facilitated communication on different days and allowed participants to request specific content from those who were on the ground at COP29, developed stories, and shared outputs – both amongst themselves and with students not present on that specific day. You can view the Mural board here.
Prof. Bernd Vogel from Henley Business School visited the Climate Action Studio
During the Climate Action Studio, the students in Reading engaged remotely with COP, watching sessions via the official COP29 platform, conducting interviews, and discussing the issues they encountered on the day. They were also encouraged to write blog articles for topics which interested them and/or related to their research. These blog posts were proof-read by the Walker Team, and then posted on the Walker Website, helping students develop their writing skills and improving their exposure. All blogs can be found on our COPCAS webpage.
This year we are thankful to the University of Reading community for their support during the Climate Action Days. We welcomed several academics from diverse disciplines in the Studio who shared their insights with the students and exposed them to different perspectives and initiatives from across the University.
Prof. Alexander Mihailov from the Department of Economics visited the Climate Action Studio
The UNFCCC streamed panel and side events. Additionally, in a separate area of their website, it was possible to watch plenary events, a range of ‘special events’ and press conferences. The streamed sessions remain available for a short amount of time on the website. Some pavilion events were also streamed live and were accessible via YouTube or via their official webpage.