Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany

The KDA is church where you do not expect to find it: Church in the world of work. The KDA is the special service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North Germany for issues connected with work and economics. We hold various contacts to enterprises and organisations. We are networking on the relationship between church and professional life and organising events. With our offers we support working persons and those who seek for a job to master difficult and unusual situations. The KDA is present wherever people work or search for work. The KDA stands for asking questions, listening and speaking out, when necessary.

In our work we meet people for whom it is difficult to find a decent place in the society. Most of them wish to improve their situation. On the one hand it means to find a job. But on the other hand it is just as important to get involved in the life of the neighbourhood, the village or the commune. Missing work and useful activities over a long time could have negative consequences for health, social relationship e.g.

What do people need for getting involved? What are their wishes? How can they be supported by social organizations to create ideas and to put into practice their ideas they already have?

SEMPRE focuses on these questions and that's why we take part. The KDA wants to find out how empowerment works in rural areas – together with unemployed people who live in the district Plön and together with the local social providers.

Moreover we are interested to learn from the experiences in other European countries, to find out best practices and – if possible – to transfer tools for empowerment. We are glad to have partners around the Baltic Sea with a variety of competence from which we can benefit.

The most important result would be if even after the project has ended social providers are interested and engaged in participation of unemployed people, so SEMPRE could contribute to a sustainable improvement of their life circumstances.

The KDA is building its Local Empowerment Network (LEN) in the county of Plön in Schleswig-Holstein in the North of Germany. There are about 130.000 people living in 85 towns and villages, nearly 117 people per qm². The county of Plön has about 50 km Baltic Sea coastline and more than 80 lakes. So tourism is one of the important economic factors. Public transport often is based on the school hours, so mobility of people without a car is very limited. More than 1.000 people are long-term unemployed. They live all over the district. Because of the rural character of the district, limited mobility and a lack of working opportunities their situation is difficult. Possibilities for participation are restricted and they have the risk of being marginalized.

Many local organisations have to deal with these challenges and are interested in developing tools for better inclusion and participation. So there are supporters of SEMPRE like the Jobcenter Plön, the regional church, the district administration, the economic promotion organization and the equal opportunities officer.

 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland, Kirchlicher Dienst in der Arbeitswelt (KDA) Hamburg/Kiel, Germany Contacts: Monika Neht monika.neht(at)kda.nordkirche.de