2008

WOSM - European Region continued the tradition of a January working weekend for volunteers supporting regional work to provide coordination, motivation and insight into the future regional activities. The most recent was 25-27 January.

As you read this, the planning team, consisting of four European Rovers and supported by the European Region, is working hard on delivering the best possible event for two Rovers from each National Scout Association.

The new interactive community for the Rovers in Europe is now available at www.rovernet.eu/community. Part of the rovernet project, the online community allows its users to create their own profiles, add music, photos and videos, exchange views with other Rovers in several discussion forums, plan joint initiatives, stay on top with all the new developments in World Scouting, find out about Rover events and much more...

The second edition of the Lands of Adventure Day will be held in the weekend of 8-9 March 2008.

The ultimate triennial event for Rover Commissioners from the whole region takes place at the Kandersteg International Scout Centre, from 3 – 6 April 2008. Come and enjoy the Commissioners' community, the sharing of techniques and tools, the development of better approaches towards Rovers from national level.

More information can be found at rovernet.blogspot.com.

Don't miss the deadline - 17 March 2008.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Over 50 representatives from associations across Europe gathered in Frankfurt, Germany, over the weekend of 4-6 April.
Entitled 'Moving Forward - A European Conversation' this special gathering was convened to provide a space for associations to discuss their concerns and hopes for the future of WOSM. It was also seen as a useful stepping stone towards the 38th World Scout Conference.

On Wednesday 9th April, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Marian Harkin (IE), Gisela Kallenbach (DE), Emmanouil Angelakas (GR), Mieczyslaw Janowski (PL) and Joel Hasse Ferreira (PT) launched a written declaration in the Parliament to propose 2011 be designated the European Year of Volunteering. If it is adopted it will make a significant contribution to the campaign to have the year designated.

On Thursday 8th of May the Latvian Parliament passed a new youth law – giving the sector a strong base for further youth policy development and for the support of youth NGOs. "It was a long time coming, we’ve been working on this since the mid-nineties. But the concerted action of national and international NGOs, the Scouts & Guides and the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs has paid off", said Eva Ikstena, President of the National Youth Council of Latvia. The Latvian Scouts and Guides sustained involvement at all stages of the processes illustrates their commitment to young people in decision making.

The Education, Youth and Culture Council of the European Union adopted a resolution on 22nd May on the participation of young people with fewer opportunities. The resolution recognises the role of youth organisations in promoting the inclusion and well-being of disadvantaged young people and the need to secure support from public authorities for these organisations, so that they may continue and expand this work.

On 7th May WOSM held its 6th meeting in the European Parliament on how young people are leading social change in Africa in the framework of EU Africa co-operation. The meeting was hosted by Scout and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Alessandro Battilocchio (IT) and was addressed by Margrete Auken (DK), the Parliament's Vice-President Luisa Morgantini (IT), Anthony Crasner, The European Commission (DG DEV), Julia Ojanen of Plan International/Concord, Giuseppe Porcaro, The European Youth Forum and Babacar Ndiaye CNGEI. Various methods of empowering young people were discussed, as was the need to focus on education and the opportunities provided by youth organisations between the two continents especially between the nearly one million Scouts in Africa and the 1.4 million in Europe.

For the second year in a row the European Scout Region has secured administrative support from the EU Commission through the Youth in Action. This year we have been awarded the maximum allocation of €35,000.

After many months of work the World Scout Bureau – European Region Office (WSB-ERO) has adopted an environmental action plan. Just as the tag line of WOSM is “creating a better world”, so we must ensure not to cause any unnecessary harm. The WSB-ERO will now seek to do these two things through our work and through our actions.

The office and the staff have committed to a number of personal and collective actions. If you would like to know more you can download the action plan here.

Roverway is an event offered by the Europe Region WAGGGS and the European Scout Region for Rovers and Rangers aged between 16 to 22. It will be held for the third time in 2009 and this time it is organised by the Icelandic Boy and Girl Scout Association. This is a great opportunity for Scouts from all over Europe to come to Iceland, experience a unique country while taking part in a international event.

On Wednesday 9th April, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Marian Harkin (IE), Gisela Kallenbach (DE), Emmanouil Angelakas (GR), Mieczyslaw Janowski (PL) and Joel Hasse Ferreira (PT) launched a written declaration in the Parliament to propose 2011 be designated the European Year of Volunteering. If it is adopted it will make a significant contribution to the campaign to have the year designated.

Two new resource materials in the area of Adult Resources are now available for downloading in our Resource Centre.

Congratulations to Karin Ahlbäck (Finland) and Milena Pecarski (Serbia), both from our Region, on their election as Youth Advisers to the World Scout Committee. Also congratulations to Jaemin Choi (Korea), Kevin Li (Canada), Nadia Soledad Morrone (Argentina), Fernanda Cristina Santos Soares (Brazil) who were also elected.

Congratulations to all who offered themselves for election in a willingness to participate actively in the democratic process.

During a meeting of the European Scout Region at the 38th World Scout Conference in Jeju, Korea, the European Scout Committee took the opportunity to present its Annual Review covering the period from June 2007 to June 2008.

The latest news and information concerning the Scout Academy are now available at http://www.scoutacademy.blogspot.com/

Please keep this page in your bookmarks as new information is added regularly.

If you were running a restaurant, what would you do with a dominant cook, a waitress having burn-out and a menu that is already ten years in place? Doing some changes, taking care of your employees, listening to the chef?

The 1st Scout Academy, the new and innovative event organised by the Region at the Centro Euro-Latin Americano de Juventud in Mollina (Spain) has finished its week-long proceedings on 26 October 2008.

The campaign to have 2011 designated as EU Year of volunteers continues. European Scouting is urging the EU Commission to move forward to make it happen.

Tine Radinja, representative of European Scout Region, elected as the President of European Youth Forum.

The online registrations for Roverway 2009 (Iceland) are now open.

Clear here for more information...

It's the 5th of December today, and that means It's International Volunteer Day. International Volunteer Day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly back in 1985. Since then, governments, the UN system and civil society organisations from all around the world have joined together every 5th of December to take a moment to highlight and recognise the incredible work done by a vast array of volunteers.

Following its commitment on children rights, demonstrated by the memorandum with the ILO on Child labour and with UNICEF, WOSM is committed to advocate for Children rights in the European Union. WOSM has been selected as a Permanent NGO Member of the EU Forum on Childrens Rights. This is a group for the promotion of children’s rights within the EU but also outside of the EU and worldwide.

Participants are saying goodbye but knowing that they will meet again at the next Growth Network in May.

Working together, the participants attending the Training For New Members of National Boards managed to solve the problems of an ‘Association in Crisis”! This was a team project in which the three teams were able to use their newly acquired knowledge and shared experiences whilst at the same time exchanging information about their work in Scouting and Guiding and making new friends.