The very successful Peace Camp took place in Cheltenham this summer with young people from Göttingen and Wittenberg in Germany, Torun in Poland and Cheltenham coming together to enjoy a week of activities around the theme of sustainability.

The originally titled ‘Youth for Peace Camp’ was started in 1995 in Göttingen to mark 50 years of peace in Europe since the end of Word War II with Göttingen inviting young people from each of their twin towns to meet together. This presented the wonderful opportunity for inter-cultural learning and understanding from each other, based on programmes themed around a common topic, from climate change, the energy crisis, and the actual situation in Europe.

The celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the Peace Camp in 2020 had to be put on hold due to the pandemic and Cheltenham, with the fantastic support of Springbank Community Group, were delighted to host the first Peace Camp post pandemic.

The report, by Springbank Community Group, on the 2023 Peace Camp can be read here.

It is not unusual for local councillors with an interest in international relations to take part in visits to our twin towns to see what they can learn and then share that knowledge on their return. One such councillor did just that on the visit to Göttingen in September 2023 and the account of his programme is below. By the way, all councillors fund themselves these days, in case anyone was wondering!

”In my role as the Cheltenham Borough Council Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling I had asked our hosts in Göttingen whether it would be possible to spend some time during the exchange visit learning how they dealt with this important civic function. From my own personal experience of living in Germany some years ago I suspected it would be mutually informative and beneficial to swap notes. What I discovered was both interesting and reassuring.

I visited Göttingen’s equivalent of Cheltenham Borough Council’s Swindon Road Household Recycling Centre (HRC), and also its bio-waste (garden and kitchen) processing facility. I didn’t visit the equivalent of our new waste incinerator since, as is the case for us, this is operated by a higher-level local authority.

Their “HRC” was bigger and more spacious than our older site. It also included a staff canteen for bin lorry crews as well as those working on site. I shared a hearty stew with my hosts and discussed recycling (the word is the same in German!).

The bio-waste facility, which I visited the next day, paralleled similar sites at Stoke Orchard and elsewhere in Gloucestershire. Essentially, biodegradeable waste is recycled using fermentation into methane gas, which is then turned into electricity both to power the plant itself and also local homes. Compost emerges as the final output of the process.

Having visited more than one such modern plant in Gloucestershire, I noted the essential similarities between equipment used in both countries.

At the end of a fascinating tailored exchange programme my conclusion was that in recent years we have more or less closed the wide gap in waste and recycling processing that I had noted when living in Bavaria a quarter of a century ago. Indeed, Cheltenham currently recycles a wider range of materials/items than Göttingen.

In thanking my German equivalents, I offered in turn to host them on a similar visit to CBC/GCC Waste and Recycling facilities back in England.”

Such visits also give the opportunity for the twinning representatives to have business meetings to discuss future projects that can be considered for further collaboration between the two towns. A meeting was held in the Neues Rathaus (new Town Hall) on 26 September, where projects involving young people in a peace camp, sport and language exchange, climate emergency and sustainability were all discussed, as well as links between the festivals and other cultural events of both towns, and waste, recycling and other green initiatives of interest to both council administrations.