In this interview with the Bremen Cotton Report editors, organisers Elke Hortmeyer, Bremen Cotton Exchange, and Axel Drieling, Faserinstitut Bremen e.V. (Fibre Institute Bremen), explain among other things the three key reasons why it’s worth coming to Bremen in March 2024. They also look at this year’s new features, programme highlights and the Bremen Cotton Week.

After Corona and the anniversary, can we expect another ‘normal’ conference in 2024?

Elke Hortmeyer: For us there is now a ‘new normal’. This means that we are not simply going back to the old-style conference but continuing with the great new developments from recent years. We are organising the International Cotton Conference Bremen in such a way that we can continue to offer hybrid sessions and a high-performance online platform for all participants.

In principle, we are continually striving to improve the programme and organisation. The heart of the conference remains unchanged: cotton quality, scientific findings, and the global cotton market, all discussed at a high level.

What are the thematic highlights of the conference?

Axel Drieling: Naturally, every visitor has their own interests, so everyone can pick out their own particular highlights from a broad range of talks covering the entire cotton value chain.

In addition to annually recurring topics, the 2024 conference will for the first time include an entire session dedicated to the subject of ginning. Another session will show opportunities along the way to achieving circularity with the whole range of cotton and mixed textile recycling, combined with technical, economic, and ecological evaluations. At this year’s event we will again take a closer look at another cotton/textile region. We won’t reveal which one just yet. But it’s great that we can present content from every continent and a variety of regions in our wide-ranging lectures. We have speakers from North and South America, for example, along with the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia, China, and Australia.

Will there be another presentation of scientific posters?

Drieling: Yes, there will. This year we will actually present the largest poster collection since the conference began. This includes a large poster group from Côte d’Ivoire where various cotton cultivation topics are being intensively researched.

What new conference features can attendees look forward to?

Hortmeyer: Quite a few! We already had a change of venue last year. We will do this again in 2024. This year’s event will be held in Bremen’s parliament building right next to the Cotton Exchange. After the Town Hall and Chamber of Commerce, we are gradually making our way around the market square, but always staying close to the Cotton Exchange. And, of course, we are looking forward to seeing many new faces amongst the speakers.