4th World Scout Education Congress
Gus Sanchez’s reflection on attending the 4th World Scout Education Congress held in Paris, France
Paris, France is known for the Eiffel Tower, Mona Lisa at the Louvre, fabulous French cuisine, and as the future home of the 2024 Summer Olympic but, this last December, it was the home to something more impactful to us scouts, the 4th World Scout Education Congress. Over 500 leaders, from all over the world, gathered in Paris to discuss the future of scouting’s role in non-formal education.
The world has changed light years in the last few decades, catapulted by the digital era. Anything you want to know is just one click away, yet the formal education system has proven to be outdated. As the leading youth movement in non-formal education, scouting has an obligation to influence the change to a more current and relevant society. A Roadmap for Education in Scouting was developed emphasizing 10 major transformative directions the movement needs to step towards to stay up to date in the world we live in.
One topic that really hit home with me, being a young adult volunteer with the BSA, was about flexible volunteering. Scouting needs volunteers in order to provide a quality program to youth which typically falls on the parents. I am seven years out of college and still in the early stages of my career, limiting the amount of time I can volunteer. Then I got to thinking of families with single parents juggling multiple jobs, youth with difficult home lives, or those struggling in other ways that are denied access to the scouting movement due to the lack of volunteers. During a thoughtful panel discussion, the UK Youth Commissioner reflected on advice she received from a scout leader, “there is a role for everybody in scouting, you just need to find the right role for you”, strongly emphasizing the need for a different way of thinking or approach to volunteerism. In order for the scouting movement to stay relevant it also needs to support volunteers in all stages of life.
We were able to hear from incredible panelists; including the Minister of Education of Portugal, local government officials, other experts in Education, NGO leaders, and incredible scout volunteers. The breakout sessions were jammed packed with options ranging across various topics and themes in education. We also had the chance to learn about projects from around the globe like MIYO (Measuring Impact of Youth Organizations), The Scout Association’s launch of Squirrel Scouts for children as young as 4 years old, Scouts for SDGs and more. It was a great event to learn, network, share best practices and brainstorm new ideas.
We also had good conversations about the next Strategy for Scouting that will be adopted at the upcoming World Scout Conference in Egypt this summer. There were many deep and meaningful discussions about different topics, themes and directions for the scout movement. It is important that the next Strategy for Scouting aligns, supports, and guides us and helps us to achieve the mission of scouting. The Roadmap for Education in Scouting and the next Strategy for Scouting are both going to be front and center in every discussion in the coming months. To learn more about them please visit the links below:
I am extremely grateful for the WSB Staff, WSC members, and Scoutisme Francais for organizing and hosting such a great Congress. I am also very thankful to have had the opportunity to represent the BSA and the International Committee at the World Scout Education Congress.
