Celebrate Amazonia: Brazil Beyond COP30, Carnival 2-6 March 2026

Film Screening and Discussion on Pantanal, the Wetland in Brazil

14:00-16:00, Muirhead Tower G15

Official Opening of Celebrate Amazonia: Brazil Beyond COP30 - Brazilian Carnaval on Campus

14:00-15:30, Guild Underground

Celebrate Amazonia: Brazil Beyond COP30 is a week of activities celebrating our engagement with Brazil and sustainable partnerships, marking the culmination of our two-year Engage Amazonia programme. This flagship event will feature a high-profile roundtable discussion on Brazil Beyond COP30, student-led contributions showcasing the Immerse Amazonia Summer School and COP30 participation, alongside Brazilian food and cultural performances, including batucada, samba, and capoeira.

Address by a distinguished keynote speaker.

Roundtable

Celebrate Amazonia: Brazil Beyond COP30

The Amazonian region is a place of global significance and local complexity, shaped by extraordinary ecological richness, cultural diversity and deep interconnections between people, land and climate. As the world’s largest tropical forest, it plays a vital role in planetary systems, while remaining a living, evolving region where communities, knowledge and innovation are central to shaping sustainable futures.

In 2026, Celebrate Amazonia: Brazil Beyond COP30 turns its focus to what comes next. Building on sustained collaboration with partners in Brazil — particularly in Pará — the programme explores the outcomes of recent joint initiatives, lessons learned through academic and student engagement, and emerging plans for the next phase of partnership. Through dialogue, shared experiences and cultural celebration, the event reflects on how long-term collaboration can continue to deepen impact beyond COP30.

Join us for a flagship roundtable discussion and a dynamic programme celebrating Brazil beyond COP30.

Chaired by Dr Courtney J. Campbell and Dr Ângelo Martins Júnior. Co-Directors of the University of Birmngham Brazil Institute (UBBI)

Expert panel:

Dr Marcel Botelho, President of FAPESPA, and President of CONFAP

Marcel do Nascimento Botelho currently serves as Honorary Consul of the United Kingdom in Pará. Previously, he has served as the Director-President of the Fundação Amazônia de Amparo a Estudos e Pesquisas (FAPESPA) since 2021, where he works to strengthen research, innovation, and sustainable development in the Amazon region. In national research policy, Botelho became active in the Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa (CONFAP), serving as regional director for the North and vice-president of the organization. On 1 January 2026, he assumed the presidency of CONFAP, leading the coordination of Brazil’s state research support foundations and promoting cooperation in science, technology and innovation across the country. Botelho has a background in Agronomy and a long academic career linked to the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), where he has held several leadership positions, including Rector, alongside teaching, research, and academic management roles.

Professor Dachamir Hotza, UBBI-CAPES Chico Mendes Chair, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina

Professor Dachamir Hotza is our second UBBI-CAPES Chico Mendes Chair and is hosted by Professor Jonathan Radcliffe. He is a Full Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil, where he leads the Ceramic Processing Laboratory (PROCER) and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Nanostructure Development (LINDEN). His research focuses on advanced materials, nanotechnology, sustainability, and the circular economy. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from Hamburg University of Technology (Germany, 1996) and has been a visiting scholar in Portugal, France, the USA, and Australia. In addition to being the Chico Mendes Chair at the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute (2025), he is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (2023), Fulbright Chair Awardee in Sustainable Development at UC Davis (2024), and currently serves as Brazil Chapter Chair of the American Ceramic Society.

Dr Helen Onyeaka, Deputy Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action (BISCA)

Dr Helen Onyeaka is an industrial microbiologist with over 25 years of experience. Her career in microbiology to date has been varied with experience gained in industry as well as academia (both teaching and research). Her research interests include microbial responses to environmental stress, use of natural preservatives in food processing, food safety, quality, and spoilage, and antimicrobial resistance. Dr Onyeaka lectures and leads modules on various postgraduate and undergraduate courses in Food Microbiology, Food Safety, and Chemical Engineering. She supervises PhD and MSc research projects related to industrial microbiology. She also plans and delivers training for Continuous Professional Development (CPD), including courses for Food Safety Inspection Officers, the food industry, and international trainees from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority.

Dr Erêndira Oliveira, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG), UBBI Connect Amazonia

Erêndira Oliveira is an archaeologist and Specialist in Amazonian Archaeology at the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (Belém, Brazil). She holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of São Paulo (MAE/USP) and is a collaborating lecturer in Sociocultural Diversity at Museu Goeldi. Her research focuses on ceramic technology and iconography, archaeological collections management, and heritage socialisation. She received the Luiz de Castro Faria Prize (IPHAN) for Best Master’s Dissertation and, in 2025, was awarded a Getty Foundation fellowship through the Museu Goeldi Terra Indígena programme. She collaborates with research groups at MAE/USP, the Mamirauá Institute, and the Federal University of Pará.

Hadil Touhri, University of Birmingham Medical Student

Hadil is a current medical student at the University of Birmingham. She was part of the UBBI Immerse Amazonia student delegation to the COP30 summit in Brazil last year, where she participated in youth-led panel events and negotiations. Her interests lie in the intersection of global health and environmental sustainability. She is the current president of the Docs not Cops student-led group, which advocates for migrant health rights and recently organised a conference focused on humanitarian medicine in regions of conflict. She also acts as a healthcare activist in the UN Global Rights Alliance group, and helps organise panels alongside healthcare workers who have backgrounds in global politics. She has completed hospital experience in low-resourced healthcare settings in Panama. She is due to start an intercalated degree in Global Health at Imperial next year. 

15:30-16:00 - Break

Join Us to Debate the ‘Big Questions’ Linked to Key Global Challenges with Engage Amazonia Researchers and Students

16:00-17:30, Guild Underground

Debate the ‘Big Questions’ organised around key global challenges. Engage in conversational spaces with key experts in the field. These will be led and organised by Connect Amazonia researchers and Immerse Amazonia students from Birmingham and Brazil, so get involved!

17:30-18:00 - Break

Celebrate Amazonia: Reception

18:00-20:00, Guild Underground

Celebrate Amazonia celebration with Brazilian food, a cash bar with caipirinhas, and Capoeira Performance, Music by Oyá Batucada Samba Band and Samba Dancers!

Connect with colleagues to celebrate Amazonia, Brazilian culture and music, with music by Oyá, capoeira by the Brazilian Cultural Centre, and dancers from Samba Dance Birmingham. 

Workshop: Deforestation, primates and re-creating the wild

Professor Julia Myatt, Academic Director of Sustainability Education

13:00-14:00, Muirhead 429

Deforestation has devastating effects on primates globally, particularly in parts of South America, Asia and Africa. Primates are particularly sensitive to deforestation because they rely on trees for food (fruits, leaves, and insects) and shelter. The destruction of habitats due to logging, agricultural expansion and infrastructure projects displaces countless primate species, or forces them to adapt to a new way of life. Deforestation in places such as Brazil, home to the Amazon rainforest, has led to isolated and fragmented primate groups, reduced genetic diversity and increased their risks from poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Conservation efforts, both in their natural environment and in captive environments around the world are essential to ensure the survival of these vital species. In this session we will look at some of the impacts of deforestation on primates around the globe and consider the role of sanctuaries and zoos to support their conservation, drawing on research undertaken by scientists in the School of Biosciences and the Birmingham Institute of Sustainability and Climate Action. You will have the opportunity to see if you can design your own enclosure suitable to support the health and wellbeing of primates for future generations.

Workshop: Time Travelling Trees, Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) Session

Dr Samantha Dobbie, BIFoR Learning and Engagement Lead

14:00-15:00, Muirhead 429

Join the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) for a hands-on session where families can learn how trees help fight climate change, and what we can do to protect them. You’ll discover more about one of the world’s biggest climate experiments and meet our “time-travelling” trees! Then get creative and grow your own ‘solution tree’ to share your ideas for a greener future. Your tree will join our digital woodland as part of a growing global message following COP30 in Brazil. Perfect for families, students, and adults interested in solutions to the climate crisis.

Decolonising Climate Change Workshop

Dr Emanuelle Santos, DoML, Connect Amazonia Project

10:00-12:00 / 13:00-14:00

(Venue TBC)

Forró dance class, Forró Birmingham

17:00-18:00

(Venue TBC)

BIFoR FACE Expedition

Departure:

University of Birmingham campus, North Gate, Pritchatts Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham

08:30-17:00

The BIFoR FACE (Birmingham Institute for Forest Research Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) facility, located in a Staffordshire woodland, is one of the world’s largest climate change experiments.

BIFoR FACE represents a significant advancement in forest research, being the second generation of forest Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) sites. It focuses on mature oak forests, scaling up from earlier experiments on young plantations to understand the impact of increased atmospheric CO2. 

Samba Class

12:30-13:30 

(Venue TBC)

Old Joe turns Carnival Colours!

Our iconic clock tower will be lit up to mark the occasion. Look to Old Joe on campus between the 02 and 06 March

Viva Brasil Carnaval 2026

Saturday 21 February, 19:30 - 23:00, Calednian Corks Club, 225 Alcester Rd South, Kings Heath, B14 6DT

• Samba party with Oyá Batucada samba band and special guests
• Samba Dance Birmingham
• Capoeira with CDOB
• Brazilian Folk Music with Forró Tempo

Tickets available from trybooking.com