Project launch: Our EUKI ELCA project will train climate managers in Moravia!
Published: Apr 8, 2024 Reading time: 3 minutes
The Podluží region in Moravia was the focus of attention a few years ago due to the devastation caused by a rogue tornado. However, what was missed in the thrall was the fact that the entire region has endured decades of soil erosion and drought, making it highly vulnerable to climate change. To combat the adverse effects of climate change, we have launched the EUKI-ELCA project, which will create a group of climate protection managers in Podluží. We marked the project launch by planting two German cherry trees in the village of Moravská Nová Ves.
In 2021, Podluží was hit by two natural disasters: a tornado and a flood. These events destroyed buildings and the landscape. Thanks to the SOS Moravia emergency appeal, we were able to respond immediately to help in the reconstruction of homes and gardens. To this day, SOS Moravia funds enable us to continue repairing the landscape.
The occurrence of natural disasters is often linked to poor landscape management. Drought and soil erosion—which will be exacerbated by climate change in the future—have long plagued the Hodonín and Břeclav regions. The landscape, therefore, needs to be restored and managed in such a way as to make it healthier and more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Preparing landscape adaptation projects for climate change will be entrusted to the climate protection managers we will train under the EUKI-ELCA project. We started this project together with German and Romanian partners last December.
Podluží is ready to protect the climate and its landscape
In the field, we launched the project by planting two cherry trees. Project coordinator Viola Helwig from Gesellschft für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (GNE) brought them from Witzenhausen, Germany, as a gift to Moravská Nová Ves—one of the villages most affected by the tornado. There, together with the mayor Zuzana Jandáková and the vice-mayor Jiří Fila, we planted the trees in March.
The mayors and vice-mayors of "tornado" municipalities and "flooded" municipalities of Dolní Bojanovice welcomed us warmly; the vast majority of them confirmed their plans to join the EUKI-ELCA project and get trained as future climate managers. Their background will be the newly established community centre for climate protection in Hodonín.
EUKI-ELCA offers a solution to the climate-vulnerable Podluží
The climate protection managers will attend a course where they will be educated in a number of fields—green energy, waste management, and mobility. They will be guided through lectures and discussions with experts and they will see examples of best practices on field trips to Germany.
They will then be able to use their experiences for the benefit of the municipalities (as officials) and their own careers (e.g. as consultants in companies and other organisations). Each of them should work on their own project during the course, e.g. a municipality's climate action plan or another environmentally oriented climate protection project.
Moravská Nová Ves is already looking for a climate manager. We have a number of plans ready. For example, this year, we will have a Climate Action Plan prepared for the village. Our newly planted trees by the church will be the basis for a new avenue and park in the heart of the village.
