First CCAP Encounter trip 2024: together for climate justice!

Hamburg, October 2024. From September 29 until October 14, the Church Climate Action Partnerships (CCAP) encounter trip took place in the area of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (ELCNG). The German participants welcomed 35 partners from the East of Lake Victoria Diocese (ELVD) in Tanzania.

The trip focused on the two pillars of the CCAP: climate justice and new forms of partnership. A first success was achieved before the meeting even started. All participants received visas! This is a great success and unfortunately can’t be taken for granted.

Visiting environmental and climate projects in Northern Germany

The first stop was the Christian Jensen College in Breklum, the historical starting point of the Ecumenical Centre of the ELCNG (ECNG). From there, the group visited various environmental and climate projects in the surrounding area. The programme included the bird protection project in Rickelsbüller Koog, the members of Bobenop e.V. in Hürup, who are building a local heating network in their village, and the artefact energy park near Glücksburg, where there was a lot to learn about renewable energies.

Discussion on mission and colonialism

In addition to visiting climate projects on site, the programme also included an examination of the concept of mission and the different positions on it. The history of the Christian Jensen Kolleg was a great starting point to discuss missions and its entanglements with historical colonialism.
After four days in Breklum, the group travelled to the Mission Academy in Hamburg. There, the exchange continued and various sights of the city were visited, such as the Elbphilharmonie, the old Elbe tunnel and the Millerntor stadium.

Seminar in Hamburg

A highlight of the trip was a joint two-day seminar with German and Tanzanian participants. Previously the exchange between the partners had taken place online, so this was their first in person meeting. The first morning was all about getting to know each other. Impressions and questions to the partners led to mutual interest, which is an important driver of the partnership.
The group then focussed on the climate footprints of the parishes. The different problems in Germany and Tanzania became clear: In Germany, CO2 emissions are higher, especially due to buildings and their heating systems. In Tanzania, on the other hand, the consequences of climate change are more noticeable, with extreme weather events such as droughts and floods occurring more intensively and more frequently. The climate action plans vary accordingly: While some German municipalities are planning major renovation projects, such as switching to heat pumps, in Tanzania climate adaptation measures such as reforestation are more likely to be on the programme. This diversity is entirely in line with the project idea: we want to develop local perspectives for action on the global challenges of the climate crisis and engage in dialogue about challenges and solutions.

Tanzanian action teams visit „their“ parishes

The joint seminar ended with a multilingual church service in Hamburg’s main church, St Petri. Afterwards, the group split up into the eight church partnerships and the German participants took the guests back to their parishes.
During the five-day congregation time, the German action teams organised their own programmes. A wide variety of activities took place, such as a visit to a beekeeping centre, a waste management site or a retirement home. The trust that was built up during this intensive time could already be felt at the meeting on the day of departure. Intensive church partnerships have developed here. After a long flight, all participants arrived safely back in their hometowns in the Diocese of East of Lake Victoria on 16 October.
We would like to thank everyone involved for their contribution to this successful encounter trip and are motivated to continue working on the climate action plans in our contexts before the return visit to Tanzania in January 2026.

Impressions of the encounter trip: