Preparations started for Tanzania exchange phase in Empowerment for Climate Leadership project
The project „Empowerment for Climate Leadership“ (ECL) is an extra occupational 18-months-online training course and exchange program. It is organized by the Climate Action Network (CAN) Tanzania and Germanwatch e.V. ECL supports 22 young professionals from Tanzania, India and Germany that are actively engaged in youth or civil society organizations for a global and just sustainable development.
In April, the German participants had a preparatory meeting for the upcoming Tanzania exchange phase in Bonn, Germany and the Tanzanian participants met for a seminar in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The German group came together from 20th to 22nd of April in Bonn, Haus Venusberg. The agenda for the weekend focussed on the preparation of the three-week-exchange in Tanzania in June, but also included some inputs on the current climate policy processes and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Germany.
The program had partially been prepared by the participants because half of them had already been to Tanzania for longer stays. That way, the group could enjoy a short Swaheli language introductory session, got an overview over geography, economy and social systems in Tanzania and got an impression of the current political situation in Tanzania. Moreover, the participants discussed their role as visitors from the global North in the Global South and reflected upon different ways of behaviour.
Two presentations by Stefan Rostock, team leader for Education for Sustainable Development at Germanwatch, and by Rixa Schwarz, team leader for International Climate Politics at Germanwatch, on the process of implementation of the Agenda 2030 as well as the upcoming negotiations of the 48th subsidiary bodies of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) completed the program of the weekend.
The Tanzanian participants had met in Dar es Salaam already in the beginning of April. They had worked on the program for the visit of the Indian and German participants on the one hand and discussed mitigation and adaptation strategies on the other hand. In two working groups, they especially focussed on linkages between climate change and entrepreneurship, industrialization, energy and gender.
In November 2017, the participants from Tanzania and India had been to Bonn in parallel to the UN Climate Conference (COP 23) in Bonn. In June 2018, the group will meet in Arusha and Dar es Salaam. In Tanzania, the participants have the chance to discuss implementation strategies for the SDGs with local civil society actors and scientists. They will get to know pioneers of sustainability and can exchange different perspective from global South and global North with decision makers on different levels.
The Empowerment for Climate Leadership (ECL) project gives young professionals the opportunity to get to know different perspectives on climate protection, climate policy and sustainable development – from the global South as well as the Global North. The overarching goal of the project is to strengthen young civil society actors in education and advocacy on climate resilience and to contribute to planning and implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) process at the local and national levels; eventually also at the international level.
