The Scouts of the World Award - News from the world
Imagine an international opportunity to be a part of the real adventure of today's world: protecting the environment, sustainable development, challenging prejudices and building peace within and between communities; in one thought, contributing to making the world a better place.
All this and more is currently happening through the efforts of thousands of Rovers from all over the world that are taking part in the Scouts of the World Award.
More and more countries have adopted and implemented this global initiative within their programme for the Rover section. Here is some news from all corners of the globe:
France
'Scouts et Guides de France' has increased the participation of young people on the SW Award by 400% in one year! 200 young people in 2007 and 800 in 2008. It is anticipated that 1500 young people will take part in the Scouts of the World in 2009! 28 SW Discoveries took place during 2007.
From 31 May - 1 June, the 4th Meeting of SW Bases Directors in France took place in Mélan. Representatives of several French Associations met with the objective of analysing the current situation of the SW Award and to put forward proposals on how to improve the programme for the coming year.
'Scoutisme Français' is actively working on the implementation of the Award with seminars and new SW Discoveries being planned for the coming months. In addition there are new SW Bases opening soon.
Bolivia
Four Scouts of the World Discoveries took place in Bolivia during the last two years, with 113 Rovers taking part. Following these Discoveries the Rover branch has grown by 38%! Workshops and courses were developed in partnership with professional biologists, anthropologists, pedagogues and environmentalists. Congratulations!
United Kingdom
After more than 12 months of planning, the first ‘trial’ Scouts of the World Discovery was held at Youlbury Scout Activity Centre near Oxford from July 31 until August 3. Eight enthusiastic members of the Scout Network from across the country took part in the Discovery which had Environment and Sustainability as its theme, and The Woodland Trust as partners.
Ecuador
The National Scout Organization of Ecuador has launched a national call for young people to join this international initiative, which received a very positive response leading to the development of projects for the coming months. At the same time they have published their own material to support the programme.
10th World Scout Youth Forum: Iksan, Korea. 7-10 July 2008
A keynote presentation was held on the Scouts of the World Award introducing the main challenges and experiences of this world initiative during recent years. The majority of participants had already heard of or are currently working on the Scouts of the World Award which serves as educational support to the Rover programme (15 – 26 years). Many activities by NSOs already implementing this international Award were presented to participants. An additional working group discussed this subject.
Recommendation E from the WSYF to the World Scout Committee, recommends that National Scout Organizations (NSOs) that are not yet participating in the Award are further encouraged to implement the Scouts of the World Award. And if NSOs currently feel unable to implement the Scouts of the World Award themselves, they should encourage their own Rover Scouts to participate in Scouts of the World projects organised by other NSOs.
38th World Scout Conference: Jeju, Korea. 14-18 July 2008
A workshop on the Rover programme and the Scouts of the World Award took place one day before the Conference. Participants had the opportunity to learn and share experiences about the SW Award during the workshop. Several 'best practices' were presented and discussed.
The Conference Resolution 21/08 refers specifically to the SW Award. The Conference noting the huge benefits of the Scouts of the World Award to Scouting and the wider community endorsing Scouting's mission of “creating a better world” encourages NSOs that are not yet participating in the Award to implement the SW Award. And request the World Scout Committee to make publicising and resourcing of the Scouts of the World Award a priority.
New Scouts of the World Toolkit
The new Scouts of the World Kit was launched during the World Scout Conference, it contains the SW Programme and Visual Guidelines, the SW Badge, SW Certificate, poster, flyer and the SW CD with soft copies of all the resources. This will help all NSOs with the implementation and support of the Programme at National and Local levels.
Scouts of the World Bases online map
A new map showing the SW Bases around the world has been launched, this will help thousand of young people with the preparation of the SW Discoveries. To see the online map please visit the SW Base section on the Scouts of the World website.
For more information on how to obtain the Scouts of the World Award visit: www.scoutsoftheworld.net
Please share your Scouts of the World activities with the World Scout Bureau by emailing amorales@scout.org, Unit Manager Adolescents & Young Adults.
Image 1: France has seen a huge increase in participants in the SW Award this year.
© SGDF
Image 2: Participants in the 10th WSYF in Iksan, Korea work on their recommendations for the 38th World Scout Conference.
