Environment
Throughout the past 100 years of Scouting, young people around the world have been exploring, learning about and caring for the outdoors and our environment. The way in which Scouts contribute to tackling environmental issues have evolved with the times, and remains a fundamental part of the Scout programme.
Recognising the importance of environment education to Scouting around the world, the World Organization of the Scout Movement are focussing their attentions on developing new initiatives in this field, supporting Scouts to be equipped with the necessary skills and understanding to tackle the environmental challenges they face.
Read the latest news about Scouting and the environment and discover the great impact that Scouting activities have on the future of our planet
Today we see Scouts around the world engaging with their local communities in caring for the environment in a range of ways. From Australian Scouts identifying ways to reduce water consumption in their Scout halls or around the home; Mexican Scouts making the world's largest Scout fleur-de-leis from cans in an effort to educate the community on the values of recycling; Scouts from Canada partnering with Southern African Scouts in learning to reduce their impact on carbon emissions and understanding about climate change; Scouts in France protecting the forests from wildfire; and Scouts all over the world from Turkey to Kenya and the United States planting trees and undertaking clean up campaigns to improve their local environments and contribute their part to the bigger picture of the health of our shared environment.
The World Scout Environment Programme offers tools, resources and initiatives to help Scouts all around the world work together for the good of the local and global environment.
Scout Centres that provide natural settings, offer environmental education programmes and demonstrate good environmental management practices may be suitable to become SCENES Centres (Scout Centres of Excellence for Nature and Environment).
Scouts worldwide, have responded to Gifts for Peace by developing great environmental projects that respond to issues such as sustainable development , reforestation, recycling and conservation.
The UN Environment Programme provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
World Scouting's official status with UNEP was confirmed with the Memorandum of Understanding in 2004, which helps support the Scouts' global and local ventures with UNEP.
World Scouting's ventures with UNEP extends beyond specific environmental education projects. The Scouts attended UNEP's Governing Council Meetings in 2003 and UNEP carried out an environmental awareness workshop at the Global Development Village in 2003. Furthermore, in 1990, the two organizations collaborated on and published “Scouting: Action for the Environment”, a document which helps National Scout Organisations (NSOs) integrate environmental education into the overall Scout program.
