Interview on the CLIF project

What is your position at corsus?

I have been working as a project assistant at corsus in our beautiful office in Hamburg since May 2022. I am responsible in particular for the administration of the project CLIF- Climate impacts of food. The project is led by WWF Germany and funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUV) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).

What are you currently working on at corsus?

As part of my work for the CLIF project, I take care of everything organisational that has to do with it. For example, I take care of up-to-date content for our website as well as for the CLIF project’s internet presence (https://food-impacts.com/). Mainly, I provide administrative support to the CLIF team. CLIF aims to develop a globally applicable tool for communicating the sustainability impacts of food.

In addition to preparing and following up on internal project meetings, I also send out invitations and proceedings to workshop participants. We are currently running the last online survey round of a DELPHI study in the CLIF project. I send out the invitations to participants and keep an eye on the responses. I also prepare the regular progress reports and project updates. An important part of the project formalities is the financial report, in which all expenses such as salaries or travel costs are regularly entered.

What is the biggest challenge of this project?

Due to the funding from IKI, the financial report is based on a predefined Excel sheet, which does not fit all the tools used at corsus. I make sure that everything is merged and entered correctly. At corsus, all employees have the opportunity to work part-time and flexibly adjust the hours per month if necessary. In addition, there are team members who work on more than one project at a time. Calculating these variables for a multi-year project and mapping them in the given structure is sometimes complicated.

What aspect do you enjoy the most / what is particularly exciting about it?

The variety of my tasks and the cooperation not only in the corsus team but also with the project partners brings me a lot of joy. The international aspect of the project with case studies and workshops in Paraguay, Thailand and South Africa is particularly interesting. Here I can use my Spanish and English language skills to good effect. Furthermore, it motivates me a lot to work on a project relevant to the food transition.

What is the contribution to socio-ecological change?

Nowadays, our diet causes major global environmental impacts. Changing eating habits and practices in food production can make a valuable contribution to climate protection and the protection of biodiversity. Furthermore, I am convinced that any improvement in both working conditions in food production and animal welfare will contribute to a more pleasant coexistence on this beautiful planet. To protect our own livelihoods, it is important to empower consumers to make sustainable choices. CLIF hopefully makes a valuable contribution here.