Call for three journalists for int. blog

What is life like in Auckland, Bangkok, Berlin, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Prague, Saigon, Singapore and Sydney?
CityScapes – Reports from the Invisible City is a project by the Goethe-Institut.

We are living in an urban world. By 2030, more than five billion people will live in big cities, and more than 500 cities worldwide will have more than one million inhabitants. The cities we inhabit become increasingly complex, diverse and sometimes unmanageable.

We are asking young journalists, bloggers and photographers to share their views from deep inside their respective cities. The emphasis here is on views from the underground, views from outside and views from beyond the common and commercial aspects of urban life.

The Goethe-Institut is looking for two journalists and one photographer in Auckland to take part in this urban exchange in the form of a blog.

If you are aged between 18 - 32 you can apply for one of the following:

1. One journalist should be a local, who has grown up in the city and has an insider view into the making and shaking of the urban structure and politics, its day to day life and its responses to current issues such as climate change, congestion, overpopulation etc.

2. The second journalist should have somewhat of an outside perspective (i.e. a young Samoan writer in Auckland, no Germans please, sorry!): Phenomena become more clearly defined from a bird’s eye view. The strangeness of a place will be accentuated, the seemingly familiar will be questioned.

Please note: we are looking for one of the two journalists to work with audio material such as interviews, city sounds, recording his/her own commentaries.

3. The third photographic journalist has the task to illustrate his/her observations through a camera, documenting what strikes him/her most on any given subject. (the photo entries may be used to produce an exhibition at the end)

Each journalist will get a small fee for their contribution and will be invited to the Grand Final:
All participating journalists will be invited to a final meeting in one of the cities, where they will meet each other and experts from the field of urban studies, architecture and other topic-related fields. Travel expenses for the final meeting of the urban reporters are covered by the Goethe-Institut.

If you’re interested please send us your CV and at least three representative samples of your writing / or 10 of your photographs to arts@wellington.goethe.org by 3 December 2010.

One central moderator will oversee the project for the duration of one year. Each city team will be given a monthly topic and task. The team will be required to hand in one essay/blog entry per month and one series of images relating to the topic.

Topics
• Jan: My year in the city - Work, play and get out of there!
• Feb: Going Local - Neighbourhood, Kiez, suburb in my city
• Mar: Sex in my City - How prudish are we? How much do we dare?
• Apr: Bin it - Trash, Müll and Recycling in my city
• May: Built up - Heritage and international style in my city
• Jun: Us and Them - How does my city integrate?
• Jul: Culture and my City - What goes up and what comes down?
• Aug: Green Issues - Where is my city’s garden?
• Sep: Cents and Sensibilities - Money makes the place go round
• Oct: High Heels and tight jeans - What is my city’s style?
• Nov: Jam it - Moving around in my city
• Dec: Rites and rituals - How does my city celebrate?

The results will be posted on monthly blogs on a dedicated website. Throughout the year this will create a kaleidoscope of opinions and comments, of research and impressions on any given topic. It will accentuate differences in response to the topics – and of course allow the participating wider audience/the readers to access valuable and interesting cross cultural information.

Participating Cities
Auckland, Bangkok, Berlin, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Prague, Saigon, Singapore and Sydney