Meeting of the Network of Adults in Scouting of the Interamerican Region 2015 #ScoutIAR

From 11 to 14 June, was held in Panama the meeting of the Network of Adults in Scouting of the Interamerican Region. The meeting was attended by 13 representatives from 12 NSOs, the Coordination Core and staff of the World Scout Bureau - Interamerican Region, out of the following NGOs: Aruba, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Dominican Republic.

The agenda for the meeting included two types of sessions:
• Joint sessions with the participants to the Network meetings of youth, Youth Programme and institutional Development.
• Specific sessions of the Adults in Scouting Network.

Joint sessions: Joint sessions were held during the afternoon of the 11th and the morning of the 12th. The addressed topics were:
Vision 2023 (Plan Triennial Mundial)
• Youth Programme Policy.
• Institutional Development Policy.
• Youth Engagement Policy.
• Adults in Scouting Policy.
• GSAT – Global Support Assessment Tool Towards Quality Scouting.
• Better World.
• Communications in the Interamerican Region.

Specific sessions: the topics that were addressed during this sessions were:

Levels and behaviors of the core competencies of the Interamerican Region: Related to the first objective of the Regional Plan (Strengthen the processes for the implementation of the competencies approach in the adult management policies in the National Scout Organizations members of the Interamerican Region) the participants got to know the process developed in the definition of the core competencies, and reviewed and validated the levels and behaviors proposed.

Positions and Functions matrix: Also related to the first objective of the Regional Plan cited earlier, the participants advanced with the definition of a model of functions/responsibilities relating to the most common positions and functions within the NSOs in the Interamerican Region and proceeded with the positioning of the Core Competencies within them.

Specific Competencies of the Interamerican Region: Again related to the first objective of the Regional Plan, the participants continued with the understanding and definition of a model of specific competences related to the most common positions and functions within the NSOs in the Interamerican Region.

Recognition and Motivation of adults in Scouting: Related to the fourth objective of the Regional Plan (Promote working styles that strengthen National Scout Organizations in implementing adult management systems with quality that generate an ongoing dynamic of motivation of the adults, implement adequate mechanisms to monitor their retention and apply timely correctives), the participants presented the best practices of their NSOs in this field, and developed a brainstorming to promote clear and systematic procedures for recognition and appreciation to adults, which can serve as the basis for the NSOs in the Interamerican Region.

Monitoring retention of adults in Scouting: Also related to the fourth objective of the Regional Plan, the participants advanced with the understanding that Retention is an effect of a quality Adults in Scouting management System. In that sense it was promoted among the participating NSOs the need of implementing a model to monitor the retention of adults and to apply corrective measures based on it.

Coordination of efforts of the AIS network to promote cooperative relationships between NSOs: Related to the third objective of the Regional Plan (Strengthen the work of the Adults in Scouting Network of the Interamerican Region and establish a strategy for the training of trainers that allows supporting the National Scout Organizations of the Region in satisfying their needs) and ased on the work of the previous sessions, establish a work plan for the Adults in Scouting network on actions to be developed until the Interamerican Scout Conference and identify specific commitments of each NSO therein.

Ideas for the regional plan 2017-2019. With a view to the formulation of the next Regional Plan, proposals were collected from the network to be considered at the Interamerican Scout Summit (Cancun).

Presentation of the revised editions of the Adult in Scouting toolboxes. Related to the second objective of the Regional Plan (Favor the creation and interchange of publications, tools and experiences that allow the National Scout Organizations of the Interamerican Region to strengthen the adult management systems in the processes of recruitment, performance and decisions for the future.) were presented and shared the updated versions in Spanish of the Adults in Scouting toolboxes 1 and 2. Both tools can be downloaded from the virtual platform of the Interamerican Region (scoutgateway.org) at http://scoutgateway.org/file.php/11/CDH_1%20%28Completo%29.pdf and http://scoutgateway.org/file.php/11/CDH%202%20%28Completo%29.pdf respectively. (soon the updated English versions will be available).

General comments. General comments of the participants about this meeting were:
• While apparently the topics between one meeting and another are the same, those who have participated in various meetings expressed their satisfaction to see how conceptually developments are achieved.
• The Network Adults in Scouting is an important place and the participants exhort to continue with this dynamic.
• To have known in advance the agenda and objectives to be achieved made the work more productive.
• The meeting exceeded previous expectations.

Evaluation of the meeting. For the evaluation the participants scored different items through a survey from 1 to 5, where 5 refers to excellent and 1 poor. The General results of the meeting is presented in four major aspects:
• Pre-meeting and logistics: (includes communications, facilities, accommodation, transportation, food and cultural activities): 4.1
• Development of the sessions (includes Agenda of the meeting, relevance of the topics, productivity of sessions and materials provided): 4.3
• Facilitators of the sessions (including knowledge of the subject, ability to coordinate the group, resolution of doubts, empathy with the group, capacity to motivate participation): 4.7
• Development of the meeting (includes whether their expectations for the meeting were covered, if the developed sessions contribute significantly to their function and if the cost of the event was according for what was received): 4.7