The European Scout Region, in alignment with the Regional Scout Plan, is pleased to call for participants for a training for young spokespersons on External Representation and Youth Empowerment, which will be held from 26 to 30 November 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Through project management, institutional involvement and external representation, Scouting aims to enable young people to acquire the core competencies to be used in supporting their personal development, increasing their engagement within Scouting and, ultimately, leading their local communities.

This training follows-up the work of the European Region of WOSM in the field of external representation and youth empowerment. The event is a four-day training aimed at Scouts and young Leaders aged 17-24 who will have the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and attitudes enabling them to take an active role in their Scout Associations, by speaking up for their opinions, effectively participating in decision-making processes and properly representing the cause of Scouting when dealing with external audiences.

Relevance to the Regional Scout Plan

One of the Strategic Priorities of the 2013-2016 Regional Scout Plan is Youth Empowerment. In particular, in this area the plan aims to “demonstrate that young people, with support and encouragement, can and should continue to be empowered to contribute their knowledge and skills, inside and outside Scouting”. Additionally, in the area of External Relations, the Regional Scout Plan aims to “contribute to the improved image of Scouting amongst external stakeholders and interested parties”. The training course will contribute to both objectives by being an opportunity for young people to be multipliers of youth empowerment in their organisations and to build relevant skills for external representation at local, national and European level.

Aims and Objectives

The training course will empower young participants and equip them with improved skills to undertake an active role in the representation of their organisations. Through a motivating and “content-full” event, the participants will be challenged to develop new skills on how to be more involved and participate in decisionmaking processes (inside and outside their associations). By undertaking an active role in their youth organisation, young people will be empowered to contribute to wider positive changes, raising their voices in and for their local communities.

Considering the overall objectives and the scope of the event, participants will be encouraged to:

• Understand youth empowerment and how it can be applied in the context of NSOs
• Explore different ways of how young people can be involved on decisionmaking inside and outside Scouting
• Learn how to communicate youth empowerment in representing the Scout Movement;
• Learn about different tools and techniques on storytelling.
• Develop spokesperson skills to enable them to speak up;
• Create sustainable processes or structures to promote youth representation and youth empowerment at the national level.

Participants Profile

• Participants should be strongly involved at the National level either as:
  External representatives or
• Developing projects in the area of youth empowerment for active citizenship and participation.

This is an event targeted to young people at the beginning of their national involvement. We encourage NSOs to select participants between 17-24 years old. Participants should be available for the entire duration of the event. To be eligible for Erasmus+ funding, your proposed participants must be legally resident in your country.

During the event, participants will develop individual action plans to develop their role at national level and it is expected that Associations will nominate a mentor in their structures to coordinate, encourage and support the implementation of these plans before and after the meeting. Number of Participants This event is designed to accept up to 45 participants. The acceptance letters will be sent to the participants after 27 October 2014. In the acceptance letter, more information will be included.

Participation Fee

The participation fee for the meeting is EUR 160. Excluded from this fee is any personal expenditure and participation in any social programme. Any extra nights’ accommodation required by the participant will be at the participant’s own cost. Associations will be invoiced for the participation fee with instructions for payment. The financial support obtained from the European Union (Erasmus+ programme), allows the partner organisations to benefit from a reduced fee of EUR 40.

Travel costs will be covered ONLY for participants joining the event for its entire length. Travel costs from home to the venue of the project and return will be reimbursed only if you use the cheapest means and fares (Economy class flight ticket, 2nd class train ticket) and upon presentation of receipts of travel tickets/invoices/electronic ticket (where the price is stated) and original boarding passes. Reimbursements will be provided according to the rules and criteria set by the funder of the project (contact us for details about amounts available per country).

More details about event you can find in the official invitation send trough WOSM ESR Circular 31 2014 (English, French)

Complete the online application form before 27 October 2014: rovernet.eu/site/youngspokespersons-training-on-externalrepresentation-and-youth-empowerment-skills

If you have any questions on the application process or the Erasmus+ funding please do not hesitate to contact Letizia Gambini or José Figueira at the European Regional Office (lgambini@scout.org, jfigueira@scout.org).