This excursion took international guests of the GSSC into a hotspot of environmental conflict in Germany, the lignite mining area just at Cologne’s doorstep. Due to the extension of various mines and the attendant destruction and resettlement of villages – despite the state’s proclaimed “energy turn” – the area has become a focal point for the consolidation of German and European environmental movements, their forms of organization and novel tactics. Our tour took us around at the Hambach Mine, where we had the chance to talk to a resettlement planner at Manheim and one of the member of activists camps remaining at Hambach Forest. This visit inspired further debate among our international group regarding comparison with similar cases in Latin America, Southern Africa or Southeast Asia.
