"Agricultural development within the rural-urban continuum” By Prof. Dr. F. Asch; for Organizing committee, Prof. Dr. S. Dabbert, President, University of Hohenheim ”According to projections of the UN, 70% of the global population will be living in urban areas by 2050” ”on this basis, Prof. Dr. F. Asch, officiated and welcomed the over 800 participants, and at the same time thanked the main sponsors of Tropentag conference.

So far, energy and climate policies have been rather unsuccessful in reversing climate change. In order to avoid negative effects, like danger of food security or water supply, it is essential to drastically cut down on global GHG emissions. In his keynote speech, Prof Felix Ekardt argues to focus on societal changes rather than on new technologies. In his opinion, technical solutions are overestimated; e.g. renewable energies are not enough to stop climate change.

It is known that by 2050 more than 70% of the population will live in the cities. Urban agriculture offers a feasible solution to the food supply challenge. Selection of 5 movies gathered and presented by Teresa Beck offered visitors an insight to ongoing urban and peri-urban agricultural projects around the World. Morning session of Tropentag 2013 Film Festival provides visitors with a solution for conflict between growing urbanization rate and ever-growing need in food production. Brief content of the movies:see the content

Stuttgart has caught a cold. Not only the inhabitants of a city can be ill, also the city itself might have a bad health. Cities around the world, just like Stuttgart, continue to grow and grow. Now more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas- with immense impacts: Poverty, social exclusion, food insecurity, malnutrition, waste, emissions and vulnerability to climate change are soaring. Our cities are sick. Read more René van Veenhuizen's Keynote Speech Read more

Frank insights by Sarah Glatzle, organizer of the student reporter’s stay and work at the Tropentag 2013.

This year's Tropentag is expecting a considerable turnout of over 825 registered participants representing around 80 countries. Organisation for such a conference is no easy task, says Bärbel Sagi, Tropenzetrum employee and Tropentag coordinator. Preperations began over half a year ago... (read more)

Writing and being creative with photos and text is a passion of me; combining this interest with scientific knowledge is a great opportunity to learn and go deeper into certain topics and is also why I applied as a Student Reporter for the Tropentag 2013. I am currently enrolled in a Master Program at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, at the School for Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences in Switzerland (HAFL). I did my Bachelor in International Agriculture and am now majoring in Sustainable Agricultural and Forestry Production Systems. My task as a Student Reporter will mainly be to take and edit photos from the different sessions. I find our international group of Student Reporters very inspiring and I am looking forward to work together for the Tropentag Blog on this interesting conference. We will give our best on making it most interesting also for YOU all out there.