Alumni

Cecilia Schubert is a former Communication for Development Master student, graduating in spring 2012.She works as a communications assistant and event coordinator at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), based in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to Cecilia  ComDev has provided her with tools that she can apply in her work, such as challenging the common way of writing about developing countries and poverty along with elaborating on alternative ways of describing, for instance, small-scale farmers not as victims of climate change, but rather presenting them as active agents of change. Cecilia did her Master Thesis on climate change communications with a focus on Kenya’s National Climate Change Response Strategy.

Celia has passed along the following information about a possible internship that Comdev students might be interested in.

Communications Intern – Food Climate Research Network (FCRN)

The Food Climate Research Network is looking for a communications intern to help raise the profile of the organisation, improve its usefulness and accessibility to users, and help develop collaborations and interactions among a growing network of researchers and policy makers working in the field of food and climate. The internship is offered on a fixed term ending on 31^st December 2012 with the intern based working from home. It is envisaged that the internship would be part-time for at least 1 day per week, with the opportunity for more work as the project develops.

Job description

Specifically, the intern will be tasked to take the initiative in the following key areas:

• Raise the profile of the FCRN and attract new members
• Focus specifically on increasing membership by stakeholders in developing countries (spanning the research, NGO, policy and food industry communities)
• Develop ways of catalysing knowledge exchange and collaborative activities among the existing  FCRN membership and among new members as they join
• Promote ways of communicating Northern perspectives on food system sustainability to Southern audiences and Southern perspectives on food system sustainability to Northern audiences: at the moment there are very different perspectives on key issues, eg. GHG mitigation, the role of livestock, consumption patterns and behavior change; nutrition, the role of the food industry, waste, transport infrastructure; and there is much to be gained by furthering understanding of where these different perspectives are ‘coming from. ‘

Actions to further these goals are likely to include greater focus in the following areas:

• Improving the look and useability of the FCRN website
• Working on improving the utility of the User pages and the Forum pages (accessible to Network members)
• Considering how the mailings might be used to elicit more feedback and commentary from FCRN network members
• Building up the Interview series.
• Considering other forms of social networking including Facebook and Twitter
• Monitoring web use and membership statistics
• Inviting members to write blogs and generally profile their work and activities more on the website
• Communicating information about the FCRN to other organisations working on food- climate issues particularly in developing country contexts

This is not an exhaustive list and the intern would be very much expected to take the initiative here.  At all times the intern would work in consultation with Tara Garnett (FCRN coordinator) and John Jackson (website manager).

Required skills

• Networking and communications skills
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Interest in and good grasp of  food, climate and sustainability issues
• Ability to be organised, self motivated

Remuneration:

£10 hour plus any necessary travel expenses incurred.

Further details

In the first instance please send through a CV and a short statement (500 words maximum) outlining your suitability and reasons you are interested in the internship to: Cecilia Schubert c.schubert@cgiar.org Note: It would be a good idea to sign up as an FCRN network member  http://www.fcrn.org.uk/user/register before writing in, in order to gain a better idea of the website and its development potential.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Friday September 7th, 2012 with the start date of the project within two weeks of this date (please note you would need to be able to start by 17^th September).

About the FCRN

The FCRN’s aim is to increase our understanding of how the food system contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and what we can do to reduce them. Its focus is broad, encompassing technological options, behaviour change and the policy dimension. We look at the role of technology in reducing food-related emissions but also at what changes in our behaviour (in what and how we eat) are also needed – bearing in mind too the complex interactions between technological developments and changing behavioural norms. We explore the role that government, the business community, non-governmental organisations and individuals could play in tackling food related emissions. Finally, we recognise that the climate challenge needs to be seen in a broader social, ethical and environmental context. We look at how actions to reduce GHG emissions might affect other areas of concern such as human food security, animal welfare, and biological diversity.

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