2010
As the year comes to a close and we take stock of the events that have occurred in the past year, we also take time during this festive season to remember those who have made the year 2010 a memorable one.
Patience, Lady Baden-Powell, granddaughter-in-law of the Founder and wife of the present Lord Baden-Powell, died in the early hours of 18 December aged 74. Patience Baden-Powell undertook a lifetime of service to Girl Guiding, Scouting and many other caring organisations both within the United Kingdom and around the world.
The theme of the 39th World Scout Conference is "Leaders of Innovation".
Innovation means to ‘try out new ideas’. Innovation can be used to describe the results of small incremental changes or large, substantial changes. Scouting is a Movement, so we expect it to develop and change over time, however innovations are only valuable when they are combined with effective and inspired Leadership that is capable of ensuring sustained progress and growth.
In preparing the documentation for the conference, we have looked both at the way this has been distributed in the past and looked forward to how this may be done in the future. Some changes have come about as a result of that reflection and these innovations are presented here on our web site from today.
For more than 100 years, Scouting has helped young people to connect with the outdoors, learn from nature and care for the environment. From identifying ways to reduce water consumption in Australia, educating communities on recycling in Mexico, reducing carbon emissions in Southern Africa, protecting forests from wildfire in France, to planting trees and undertaking clean up campaigns across the globe, Scouts around the world are taking positive action to tackle the environmental problems facing us.
It is with great sadness that WOSM has learned of the passing of Mr Gathogo Ngugi, former executive member of the World Scout Bureau Africa Regional Office and Director of last summer's historic World Scout Moot in Kenya.
The Brazilian city of Curitiba, the host of the forthcoming 39th World Scout Conference, won the Globe Sustainable City Award 2010.
“Your actions inspire millions of future leaders”
The Volvo Adventure is an educational programme that rewards environmental activities and the decision-makers of the future. Run in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that has been recognising and rewarding practical actions (projects) undertaken by young people from all over the world to solve local environmental problems. This has been a golden opportunity for Scouts and NSO’s to receive help in preparing and delivering their environment projects and have them recognised internationally by environmental organizations.
The recent seminar on Youth Involvement in the Asia-Pacific Region included members of the planning team that are current and former members of the Young Adults Members Group (YAMG), young adults between the ages of 18 and 26. They had the opportunity to lead sessions and share their learning and experiences with the participants. The YAMG was initiated at the Regional Conference in Brunei in 2004 and it consists of seven young people elected at the Regional Youth Forum. The YAMG has a role to plan the next Regional Youth Forum and each member also sits on a Regional sub-Committee with the Chairman being a member of the Regional Committee.
The first seminar on Youth Involvement in Decision-Making took place recently in the Asia-Pacific Region, hosted by the National Scout Organization of Thailand. This seminar attracted 40 participants from 14 countries, across an age-range from 17-67 years of age. They spent four days sharing experiences on Youth Involvement and discussing how young people of all ages in Scouting can be involved in decision-making in the Unit, Institutionally and in the community.
