ELCA’s Ongoing Journey of Training and Empowerment in Climate Protection Management

In the historic town of Witzenhausen, agricultural education has flourished since the 19th century.
Today, a new kind of cultivation is underway, it is not subtropical crops but climate protection managers who are taking root. Thanks to the transformative cross-border European Climate Initiative (EUKI) Project, implemented by the Association for Sustainable Development (ASD) in collaboration with People in Need (PIN) and the Politehnica University of Timisoara (UPT), trainees from the Czech Republic and Romania embarked on a seven-month course to become certified in Climate Protection Management and become the guardians of their countries‘ futures.

Published: 31 January 2025
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This capacity-building initiative began with a series of dynamic roundtables, participatory workshops, and events in the 2 partner countries Czech Republic and Romania. These brought together key stakeholders to enhance communication and address the needs of local climate protection management. ELCA kicked off with a study visit to Moravia in the Czech Republic from March 7 to 9, 2024. This visit allowed project partners to familiarise themselves with the situation in tornado and flash flood-affected areas through field surveys and meetings with mayors of several municipalities. This visit to the South Moravian Region Podluží began with an introduction in Prague. It continued at the PIN office in Hodonín with a video presentation on regional disasters (tornadoes, floods) and current adaptation planning in climate action plans. The project partners toured the affected areas, discussing synergies in the regions, and issues in soil, water, and landscape protection with municipal leaders.
A symbolic act of planting two cherry trees in Moravská Nová Ves brought from Witzenhausen by ASD marked the beginning of a joint effort to restore the area sustainably. This event culminated in the planting of 27 more trees the following day in collaboration with local citizens and volunteers from the NGO Hnutí Brontosaurus Podluží. The event received significant media coverage, including live broadcasts on Czech Television and Czech Radio, highlighting a message of hope and solidarity.

Joint planting campaign in Moravská Nová Ves © PIN ELCA

Learning to act
In April 2024, ELCA launched the initial Climate Protection Management (CPM) Online- training programme. Led by experts from Germany, this training highlighted the various fields of climate protection management. Twenty-two participants from the Czech Republic and Romania – ranging from graduates and professionals to lecturers, NGO staff and local government officials – gathered in a virtual classroom for the first training phase. The learning objectives of these first 12 sessions covered key topics from climate change science and policy development to project management and stakeholder engagement, from risk assessments to current evaluation questions in climate protection management and sustainable development. The programme is structured in such a way that intensive on-site workshops gradually replace online training in the 2 Community Support Centres that have already been set up. The workshops have a particular focus on local climate action plans in climate mitigation. These local workshops will become centres of practical learning, which is crucial for the effective management of climate protection measures.

Linking knowledge, theory, and practice
The programme’s second phase included a study trip to Germany, Witzenhausen in Hesse.
ASD headquarters is located in a small, vibrant university town in the Werra-Meißner district of northern Hesse, known for its picturesque landscape of rolling hills, forests and nature parks. The region is home to several endemic and rare species and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises specialising in environmental technology, renewable energy, resource conservation and environmental management. This is particularly noteworthy as the region is one of the more structurally green regions in Germany, and there are many examples of successful rural development and organic farming.
The trainees spent a week learning about local climate protection management. They met with climate protection managers and learnt about specific topics such as green infrastructure, sustainable resource use, renewable energies, energy efficiency, stakeholder collaboration in practice; they also saw examples of climate projects in action. The practical work aspects of the capacity building offer the option of working on specific local project initiatives or regional climate action plans needed and preparing them for application. Each project proposal will not only bolster local initiatives but also contribute innovatively to broader climate mitigation efforts. In addition to further workshops, mentoring and coaching of the interdisciplinary project teams will be a mainstay of project support.
                                                                  

Trainees during the excursion to the Frankenhausen state domain, Hesse © ASD ELCA

Going new ways together
Two Community Support Centres were established, one in the Czech Republic (Hodonín) and one in Romania (Timisoara). These centres will further strengthen local communities with knowledge exchange and the assessment tools necessary for local climate action. In line with the ELCA approach to ownership, some of the new climate protection managers might support these community centres after completing the rigorous ELCA training with newfound skills and networks and with a shared commitment to steer their communities toward a sustainable, resilient future.
The new ELCA website was launched in November. It provides an overview of the activities that have taken place to date and should continue to flourish as a networking and information platform.

The second study tour and final ELCA conference will take place from 24th to 27 thMarch under the motto ‚Empowering local climate action‘ and will once again give the participants the opportunity to see climate-friendly best practices in the region, discuss with local climate protection managers and present their project work to an interdisciplinary panel of experts in Witzenhausen, but will also promote European networks that are crucial for collaborative climate action.

Zugehöriges Projekt