Tropentag 2024:

We are seeking student reporters

Be a student reporter at the Tropentag 2024

Tropentag, the conference on tropical and subtropical agriculture, natural resource management, and rural development is an annual conference organised by ATSAF e.V. in collaboration with European universities since 1997 (www.tropentag.de). Tropentag 2024 will be organised as a hybrid conference by University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Austria.
We will have an in-person conference, but all oral presentation sessions will be live-streamed via an online conference platform. The Tropentag 2023 conference will summarize recent disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to address “Competing pathways for equitable food systems transformation: trade-offs and synergies”. To increase the outreach of the event, ATSAF e.V. sponsors a team of 12 student reporters to give an account of the event.

The theme of Tropentag 2024 is
Explore opportunities... for managing natural resources and a better life for all
The need to transform food systems is ever more pressing. COVID-19, climate change, conflicts, wars, and growing social and income inequalities are exposing the vulnerabilities of our food systems. Although food systems are producing as much food and calories as ever before, global crop and dietary diversity are steadily declining. This has increased the vulnerability of our environment and food production to climatic shocks, with negative impacts on human nutrition and health. Rising food and fuel prices make healthy diets less affordable, particularly for the most marginalized. Food systems provide many jobs, but many of these jobs, especially those held by women, are insecure, underpaid and unsafe. The importance of looking at food systems as a whole and transforming them to be just, equitable and sustainable has been widely recognised. Tropentag 2023 invites a debate on competing pathways for food systems transformation, drawing from diverse perspectives, disciplines and methodologies. Plenary discussions, thematic sessions, guided poster tours, and workshops will engage participants in a lively debate on the benefits and costs of different of food systems transformation pathways and the associated trade-offs and synergies for different stakeholders.

Keynote speakers are:

• Johan Swinnen, IFPRI/CGIAR, USA
• Jody Harris, World Vegetable Centre, Thailand
• Catherine Nakalembe, University of Maryland, USA (tbc)
• Ian Scoones, University of Sussex, UK
• Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Michigan State University, USA
• Million Belay, IPES-Food, Uganda

To increase the outreach of the event, ATSAF is looking for a team of student reporters to give an account of the event.

What does this mean for you?

As a student reporter, you will attend an online workshop before the conference at the beginning of September 2023 and a 2-day-workshop just before the conference in September 2023 on journalism & social media. Student reporters will work in an interdisciplinary team of 12 international students who continuously contribute to a multi-author blog with text and visual content from 20 - 22 September 2023 in Berlin at the Tropentag.
In the blog and other media (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, FB, Flickr) the student reporters will summarize the discussions and report on recent trends, hot topics, or emerging issues during the conference. On Sept 23^rd, 2023, a final seminar on “The way forward to a professional career” will wrap up the activities.
ATSAF e.V. will cover all travel costs (low emission transportation means are strongly suggested), accommodation, and registration fee for the conferences. Furthermore, every student reporter will receive a flat rate compensation of expenses of 100 Euro.

Who can apply?

The application is open to students affiliated to a European university with great interest in the Tropentag topic. Applicants must be fluent in English and should have experience in interview and writing techniques and good knowledge and skills in the use of social media.
Please apply with a short CV outlining your experience in the relevant fields and a motivation letter (maximum 1 page). Please explicitly state your level of skill in the use of visual media, social media, writing for a wider public and/or digital photography or video recording in your application.

Please send your application in one (1) pdf file named 'your‐name‐studenreporter‐2023.pdf' to studentreporter(at)atsaf.de

Deadline for application is 3 July 2023.

Download this call for application: StudentReporters2023.pdf