Berlin/WSBERO) – The emotion was
palpable yesterday afternoon when the 21st European Scout Conference
came to a close after five very busy and intense days in Berlin,
Germany.
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Earlier during the last day of the Conference, the outgoing European
Scout Committee had handed over the responsibilities to the members of
the new Committee, who received the Region’s purple scarf from their
predecessors.
Andrea Demarmels, newly elected chairperson of the Committee, and his
team had already been busy, facilitating a number of workshops during
which participants were encouraged to share comments and elaborate
concrete actions. Some interesting ideas were gathered and will help the
Region to achieve objectives set in the new Regional Scout Plan (
English, French).
The last session of the Conference saw some 270 delegates from 39
National Scout Organizations from all over Europe discuss a series of
draft resolutions. Three draft resolutions had been proposed by the
European Regional Committee and concerned the Regional Scout Plan
2013-2016, the Regional Fees and the future of the Region’s Partnership
Fund. An additional draft resolution proposed by the European Scout
Committee, which addressed the future partnership with WAGGGS, had also
been tabled at the concurrent 14th European Guide Conference. With some
minor amendments all these resolutions were adopted and will form a
substantial basis for the Region’s work during the coming three years.
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A
record total of ten resolutions tabled by National Scout Organizations
were also adopted and addressed a variety of issues, including two
resolutions concerning the current reorganisation and relocation of the
World Scout Bureau. Other issues addressed related to the cost of
Regional events, the financial crisis affecting countries in the Region
in general, and the climate change and the relevance of Scouting’s role
as a valuable lobbying partner in intergovernmental for a concerning
this issue.
Other resolutions asked the Region to take appropriate actions to
facilitate a better inclusion of migrant youth in the Scout Movement in
Europe and to provide more publicity to the Erascout Programmes already
existing in a number of NSOs in Europe. The strengthening of networking,
cooperation and interconnectivity of NSOs of the Region was the theme
of another resolution, while another one shared the Region’s concerns
with regards to recent developments in the middle east and their impact
on young people in that region.
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Later
during the afternoon the 14th European Guide and Scout Conference
reconvened for its final session, when two draft business
recommendations where discussed and approved. One recommendation
concerned the venue of the 15th European Guide and Scout Committee: a
large majority welcomed the bid of Speidernes Fellesorganisasjon (the
Guides and Scouts of Norway), who will host the Conference in Norway in
2016.
The other recommendation concerned the future strategic partnership
between the Europe Region WAGGGS and the European Region of WOSM which
will form the basis of work in partnership for the next six years.
The formal closing of the 14th European Guide and Scout Conference
was marked by the handing over of the conference chair’s gavel to the
host team of the 15th European Guide and Scout Conference, which will
take place in Norway in 2016.