Cultivate
Strengthening communities, and the land
Cultivate
Invites faith leaders, community elders, conservancy managers, NGO leaders, government officials, and other trusted community voices into safe, nature-immersive spaces so they can step away from the demands of leadership and engage deeply with the realities shaping their communities.
The Challenges of Our Time Require Creative Leaders
Young people need trusted leaders who can help them navigate a rapidly changing world. We work with different groups of leaders and create spaces for them to connect with nature, be exposed to new perspectives, reflect deeply and better understand the ecological and socio-economic realities facing their communities today.
Through the Cultivate programme, leaders acquire the knowledge and the skills to strengthen their ability to support young people in making thoughtful choices that consider the natural world, quality of life, and future generations.
The Issues
Wildlife, livelihoods, family life, and cultural traditions are all being reshaped by rapid social and environmental change.
Young people are often searching for guidance from leaders who understand the realities they face today.
Cultivate creates space for leaders to step back, reflect, and see these challenges with fresh eyes.
We believe that, when given the time and opportunity to think differently, leaders are well placed to support young people in making thoughtful choices that strengthen both their communities and the land for generations to come.
FAITH
IN ACTION
About the Programme
Similar to our other residential training programmes, participants step away from daily responsibilities to attend an unpaid, multi-day nature-immersive experience, living in tents or huts, and sharing meals around the fire. This can be a difficult shift in a professional culture shaped by hotel workshops, sitting allowances, and per diems.
Through games, dialogue, performance, storytelling, and facilitated discussion, community leaders are able to explore the difficult questions facing their communities and conservation areas.
We ask questions like:
How do we care for the land as it changes around us?
What does good land stewardship look like today?
How do we support young people facing choices we never had to make?
What responsibilities do we hold towards future generations?
How do we lead difficult conversations with compassion, courage, and integrity?
Participants return home as ‘Youth Stewards’ Better equipped to support their young people.
These leaders now know how to create safe spaces for thoughtful dialogue and informed decision-making in their communities.
Who is this programme for?
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Eco-theology for Faith Leaders:
CARING FOR CREATION IN A TIME OF CHANGE
Many faith leaders receive extensive theological training but little opportunity to explore environmental stewardship, conservation, population pressures, or the ecological challenges facing their congregations. Our Ecotheology programme invites pastors, priests, imams, and other faith leaders to revisit familiar scripture with fresh eyes and consider what faithful leadership requires in our rapidly changing world. -
Elders Programme:
WISDOM HOLDERS
In each community, there are usually a small number of elders who are respected for their views and opinions on many issues affecting families and villages. We create opportunities for champions to exchange with and learn from their elders. It is also an important time for elders to hear from their young people about issues affecting them and their concerns for the future. -
Conservancy Managers/Government offices:
CURRENT DECISION MAKERS
Government officials, conservancy managers, NGO staff, and educators make decisions that shape the future of communities and landscapes. Yet few have the opportunity to step away from the demands of their roles to reflect on the changing realities facing the young people and places they serve. -
Community Influencers:
LEADING CONVERSATIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Increasingly, public opinion is shaped by online influencers and digital creators. This emerging programme will support influencers popular with young people in our target areas. We hope to create opportunities for influencers to experience our immersion program and then work with our Youth Champions to use their platforms to encourage thoughtful, informed conversations about the future.
Participant experiences
“The problem is that [our population] has increased too much, and people need the extra income to cope with the many mouths to feed and children to care for. I call on us pastors to join conservation efforts and launch these sensitive subjects that will help our community. The church should be at the forefront of teaching the current and younger generations for the safety of our future.”
-REV, JOHN, AMBOSELI STEWARDS
“We need to return to the wisdom of our ancestors. In their time, they valued environmental conservation and understood the importance of living in harmony with nature. Today, the population continues to grow, and land grabbing is increasing as people expand their living areas. The message of The Choice, as highlighted in the play, is therefore very important. The main character had two daughters and was content with his family as it was. As Samburu and Maasai men, we should embrace this way of thinking rather than marrying many wives solely to have sons.”
-ELDER FROM SERA CONSERVANCY, SAMBURU
“The land will not increase but people will keep increasing, it is our responsibility to stop and think - the world is now full and we must slow population growth and protect the planet God created so that our future generations can live a decent life - we must speak to our congregations.”
-(PASTOR)
The impact of our Cultivate Programme
Leaders are reconnected with the natural world
Participants are brought out of the offices, churches, and indoor spaces, experiencing full immersion in nature.
Leaders are given safe spaces for difficult discussions
Topics often avoided in public discussion can be explored privately, respectfully, and without judgement.
Leadership is strengthened for communities experiencing difficult change.
Communities are encouraged to question and explore, seeing with new eyes.
Faith and Ecology are connected
Scripture, stewardship, conservation, and community wellbeing come together in one integrated conversation.
Leaders are inspired with Active Hope
Participants leave with hope, and practical ways to strengthen their communities.
In its first year, Cultivate reached several significant milestones.
Youth Champions collaborated with theatre professionals to create an original play, and deepened their skills in theatre and storytelling.
They also premiered the production at the Maa Cultural Festival, and took it across Kenya’s conservancy landscape.
36 Faith Leaders trained in 2025 across Mara and Amboseli areas
36 Faith Leaders in 2025
21 Faith Leaders in 2026
21 new faith leaders trained in 2026
34 churches mapped so far in our first conservancy (Pardamat)
34 churches
Are you interested in becoming a Youth Champion and joining the Cultivate Programme?
If you are a young person living in one of our partner conservancies and feel called to learn, grow, and lead, we would love to hear from you.
Bring Cultivate to Your Community
If you are an organization, community leader, faith leader, elder, or health worker who would like to bring Cultivate to your community, youth group, women’s group, or church?
Contact us to learn more and to register your interest in joining us.
Have questions?
Here are answers to a few commonly asked questions about our programmes. If you don’t see the information you need, please get in touch! We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
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It is a leadership programme grounded in the realities facing communities living in and around Kenya's conservancies. Depending on the group, participants explore environmental stewardship, faith, culture, health, population, livelihoods, and community wellbeing as interconnected issues rather than separate topics.
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Being immersed in nature is central to the programme. Living simply, sharing meals around the fire, and stepping away from everyday routines creates the conditions for deeper reflection, honest conversation, and personal growth; experiences that are difficult to recreate in a conference room or hotel.
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Cultivate is an invitation rather than a workshop. While accommodation, meals, and learning materials are provided, we do not offer sitting allowances or per diems. We believe the deepest learning happens when leaders choose to invest in their own growth - participants are guaranteed to remember this training like no other.
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Faith leaders often have extraordinary influence within communities. They are trusted advisors during some of life's most important moments and, when well equipped with valid, science- backed and up-to-date information, are uniquely positioned to help communities reflect on long-term challenges.
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No. We work with leaders from different faith traditions and cultural backgrounds. Our Eco-theology programme explores how faith can inform wise and compassionate stewardship and care for both people and the natural world.
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No. Participants are encouraged to engage respectfully with different perspectives while remaining grounded in their own traditions and values.
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Participants return to their communities with practical tools, new perspectives, and a deeper understanding of stewardship.
If they have participated in the eco-theology programme, many go on to integrate these conversations into sermons, community gatherings, youth programmes, conservation initiatives, and local leadership activities. CCA stays in contact and is often invited to facilitate further discussion with youth groups, bible studies, and government and NGO staff.