International Volunteer Day 2012

5th of December was set as the International Volunteer Day by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. The theme for 2012 is ‘Celebrate Volunteering!’. International Volunteer Day offers an opportunity for volunteer organizations and individual volunteers to make visible their contributions – at local, national and international levels. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) said on their website that ‘on IVD 2012, we celebrate our commitment and hope for a better world’. The Scout Movement, with its millions of volunteers from around the world, and with a Vision of ‘Creating a Better World’, has been contributing to this goal – everyday of its existence for over 105 years now. UN Secretary General, and a Scout, Ban ki-Moon said on the occasion, ‘I applaud all people who volunteer each year for the benefit of their communities’. Click on read more for the ‘International Volunteer Day 2012’ message from Luc Panissod, outgoing Secretary General of World Scouting.

Message from Luc Panissod, Secretary General, WOSM – International Volunteer Day 2012

Volunteers are transforming their local communities through their efforts and are taking on leadership roles at various levels of Scouting. In this era of innumerable challenges, our volunteers are providing grassroots service and leadership to millions of boys and girls in more than 200 countries and territories where the Scout Movement is established.

Thanks to the contributions of many volunteers, Scouting continues to be one of the biggest youth organisations in the world. Today, after 105 years, it is still one of the most popular Movements offering a robust and up-to-date youth programme with volunteers offering value-based leadership in various capacities.

The World Scouting family relies on dedicated volunteers to promote its Mission of preparing and empowering young people to create better world. 

Volunteerism is, of course, its own reward. But the International Volunteer Day is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind all volunteers out there – selflessly seeking to improve our world – that we indeed recognise and value their contributions. Personally, on my last International Volunteer Day as the Secretary General of this great Movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all my sister and brother volunteers who share their skills and talents with the Scouting world, and hope that many more will follow in their footsteps in the years, decades and centuries to come.

Volunteers are transforming their local communities through their efforts and are taking on leadership roles at various levels of Scouting. In this era of innumerable challenges, our volunteers are providing grassroots service and leadership to millions of boys and girls in more than 200 countries and territories where the Scout Movement is established.

Thanks to the contributions of many volunteers, Scouting continues to be one of the biggest youth organisations in the world. Today, after 105 years, it is still one of the most popular Movements offering a robust and up-to-date youth programme with volunteers offering value-based leadership in various capacities.

The World Scouting family relies on dedicated volunteers to promote its Mission of preparing and empowering young people to create better world. 

Volunteerism is, of course, its own reward. But the International Volunteer Day is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind all volunteers out there – selflessly seeking to improve our world – that we indeed recognise and value their contributions. Personally, on my last International Volunteer Day as the Secretary General of this great Movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all my sister and brother volunteers who share their skills and talents with the Scouting world, and hope that many more will follow in their footsteps in the years, decades and centuries to come.

Thanks to the contributions of many volunteers, Scouting continues to be one of the biggest youth organisations in the world. Today, after 105 years, it is still one of the most popular Movements offering a robust and up-to-date youth programme with volunteers offering value-based leadership in various capacities.

The World Scouting family relies on dedicated volunteers to promote its Mission of preparing and empowering young people to create better world. 

Volunteerism is, of course, its own reward. But the International Volunteer Day is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind all volunteers out there – selflessly seeking to improve our world – that we indeed recognise and value their contributions. Personally, on my last International Volunteer Day as the Secretary General of this great Movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all my sister and brother volunteers who share their skills and talents with the Scouting world, and hope that many more will follow in their footsteps in the years, decades and centuries to come.

The World Scouting family relies on dedicated volunteers to promote its Mission of preparing and empowering young people to create better world. 

Volunteerism is, of course, its own reward. But the International Volunteer Day is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind all volunteers out there – selflessly seeking to improve our world – that we indeed recognise and value their contributions. Personally, on my last International Volunteer Day as the Secretary General of this great Movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all my sister and brother volunteers who share their skills and talents with the Scouting world, and hope that many more will follow in their footsteps in the years, decades and centuries to come.

Volunteerism is, of course, its own reward. But the International Volunteer Day is a wonderful opportunity for us to remind all volunteers out there – selflessly seeking to improve our world – that we indeed recognise and value their contributions. Personally, on my last International Volunteer Day as the Secretary General of this great Movement, I express my sincere gratitude to all my sister and brother volunteers who share their skills and talents with the Scouting world, and hope that many more will follow in their footsteps in the years, decades and centuries to come.

Every day, millions of volunteers across the globe who are committed to the core values of Scouting contribute through their competencies, skills and resources, to make a big impact on the Scout Movement, despite everything – despite crises and conflicts, and despite many challenges we face in the world today – so that young people are empowered to make the world a better place. 

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Trends In Voluteering – Ebook

The Adults we Need

Looking at how societies trends affect European Scouting.

Society and trends in an ever-changing world can have a great affect on Scouting. This publication looks at this affect and, in turn, what effect Scouting has as a movement and form of education on society. It is designed to be an aid to National Scout Organisations (NSOs) to help them utilise the changing trends for their benefit.

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Scouting In Practice – Ebook

For all Scout leaders worldwide. Its purpose is to recall the basics of Scouting to all those who take inspiration from the Scout Method for contributing to the development of children and adolescents

this booklet is intended to help everyone interested in gaining a greater understanding of how Scouting works as an educational system.

It has been been written as a tool for the Youth Programme and Adult Resources teams at national level, but it is hoped that it can be of use for all those at other levels who do their best to provide support to Scout leaders.

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Scouting an Educational System – Ebook

This booklet is intended to help everyone interested in gaining a greater understanding of how Scouting works as an educational system. It has been been written as a tool for the Youth Programme and Adult Resources teams at national level, but it is hoped that it can be of use for all those at other levels who do their best to provide support to Scout leaders.

Scouting: An educational system is intended for use by those responsible for ensuring that the Scouting offered to young people is the rich and multi-faceted learning experience that it is meant to be.

A large proportion of the publication is devoted to the Scout method in particular, because it is the Scout method that encapsulates Scouting’s educational system as it is experienced by young people. The publication explains each of the elements of the Scout method and illustrates how they interact and complement each other as a system.

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Achieving the Mission of Scouting – Ebook

A strategy for Scouting from Durban to Thessaloniki

This document builds on “1. Understanding the Mission Statement”, described above. Understanding the mission statement and using it within each Scout association is an important step. However, the next step towards achieving Scouting’s mission in today’s world requires examining the key challenges that face our Movement, considering the issues that underlie each of the challenges and taking action.

This new document presents six key challenges (a synthesis of the concerns and hopes expressed during working groups at the World Scout Conference in Durban); a number of key issues related to each challenge; and a number of concrete questions to ask.

The six key challenges are:

1. Relevance: meeting the needs and aspirations of young people;
2. Complementary nature: making a distinctive contribution to the education of young people, in particular through the Scout Method;
3. Membership: reaching out to more young people;
4. Adults: attracting and retaining the adults we need;
5. Relationships and partnerships: working with others to better serve young people;
6. Unity: pursuing a common purpose at all levels.

The document provides an outline of a 2-day workshop to help key leaders at all levels of a Scout association to start (or review) the process of making sure that Scouting really achieves its mission in today’s society – throughout the world.

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Understanding the Mission Statement – Ebook

A strategy for Scounting from Durban to Thessaloniki

This document examines Scouting’s mission statement and offers a variety of ways of looking at the text. The aim of this document is to help WOSM’s national Scout associations around the world to understand, translate and disseminate the mission statement in their own language and culture.

For the first time, the World Scout Conference, meeting in Durban in July 1999, adopted a mission statement for Scouting. The adoption of the mission statement is the latest milestone in the work undertaken by the World Organization of the Scout Movement on the development of a Strategy for Scouting. The statement, which is based on WOSM’s Constitution, is intended to reaffirm Scouting’s role in today’s world.

The Conference also adopted Resolution 3/99 requesting that appropriate follow-up be made at all levels of the Movement to facilitate the implementation of the Mission.

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The World Programme Policy – Ebook

Contains the policy statement adopted by the 32nd World Scout Conference, and relevant background material. The policy defines youth programme, describes the process of programme development, comments on programme delivery, and outlines the responsibilities of national Scout associations and the World Organization of the Scout Movement in this field.

DEFINITION OF YOUTH PROGRAMME

Youth Programme is the totality of what young people do in Scouting (the activities), how it is done (the Scout method) and the reason why it is done (the purpose)

Totality: Youth Programme covers the complete span of a young person’s experience in the Movement. It is a progressive process of education and personal development.

What: Youth Programme encompasses all activities in which young people in Scouting take part. They must be attractive and challenging to young people.

How: Youth Programme, fundamentally, uses the Scout method in carrying out its activities.

Why: Youth Programme is the means of achieving the purpose of Scouting, based on its fundamental principles.

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The Essential Characteristics of Scouting – Ebook

On the basis of WOSM’s Constitution, this paper provides a compact but comprehensive overview of the key elements which characterize our Movement and its mission.

Within the framework of the work on the Strategy for Scouting, the World Scout Committee, through its Strategy Task Force, prepared this paper on “The Essential Characteristics of Scouting”. On the basis of WOSM’s Constitution, the paper provides a compact but comprehensive overview of the key elements which characterize our Movement and its mission.

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WOSM Constitution – Ebook

Accredited representatives of National Scout Associations, which had adopted and practised the Scout Movement founded by Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, assembled in Paris, France, in July 1922 and established the International Scout Conference for the coordination of the Scout Movement throughout the world, together with an Executive Committee and a Secretariat.

The present Constitution, as amended in January 2011, governs the operation of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in a kindred spirit of world cooperation and friendship.

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SCENES Guidelines – Ebook

A Scout Centre of Excellence for Nature and Environment (SCENES) Centre is a very special place. It is a centre that has made a long term commitment to protect the environment and promote environmental understanding.

A SCENES Centre is committed to protecting its natural environment, minimising its environmental impact and enabling all who are connected with the centre to engage with nature and become empowered to make their own personal commitment to the environment.

A SCENES Centre leads by example and acts as a positive role model to other Scout and non Scout centres, to its guests and to its local community. It can provide real hands-on educational activities for Scouts and training opportunities for leaders, equipping them with an enthusiasm for nature and a desire to do something positive for the environment in their home-life.

SCENES was developed during the 1990’s as an initiative of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Nine Scout centres around the world developed environmental management practices and education programmes and became formally recognised as SCENES.

The ideas at the heart of SCENES are now widely accepted as important among Scout centres around the world. SCENES, through its support network and accreditation system, enables centres to achieve their environmental goals and benefit fully from their commitment to environmental excellence.

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