Colombia day

In May of 2023, the feredal ministry of education and research in Germany (BMBF) hosted a Colombia day in Bonn, Germany to connect scientists in Germany that work with Colombia in any discipline. The program was very insteresting, with a.o. guest speaker her excellence Y. Salazar-Mejia, Colombia’s ambassador to Germany. She introduced us to the new governmental development plan focusing on sustainable peace in Colombia. For this goal, more investments in research and development are planned, especially in rural areas.
We were also able to share our experience and criticism with representatives of the BMBF in specialist groups to develop a bilateral collaboration that can be more fruitful for both, Germany and Colombia. Different funding agencies such as the BMBF, the German reserach society DFG and the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung presented different funding opportunities especially for the cooperation of Germany and Colombia.
My personal highlight was the ideas contest for early career scientists. Before the event we could submit an idea draft to apply for the contest. The aim of the call was to sponsor young scientists to hold a networking workshop in Colombia in order to promote bilateral cooperation. I submitted a draft on a workshop idea to strengthen the cooperation in the field of Earth observation for tropical wetlands research and also transfer knowledge to Colombian early career scientists. I was one of the six selected finalists and was invited to present my idea in a science slam. Thus, I dressed up in my full field work outfit including rubber boots and a hat to take all participants on a short trip to tropical palm swamps. Afterwards I received a lot of positive feedback for both, my work and my presentation and I was voted in 2nd place. This now gives me the unique opportunity to prepare a scientific exchange in Bogotá to start long-lasting cooperations and scientific exchange.