“Youth Participation: Today, not tomorrow!”
Kandersteg International Scout Centre, Switzerland
April 17th-22nd 2012
Dear International and Rover Commissioners,
We are glad to invite representatives of your National Scout Association to the 1st Inter-Regional Agora, which will take place in the gorgeous setting of the Bernese Alps, at Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC), in Switzerland, between April 17th and 22nd, 2012. You might have heard about the yearly European Agoras, youth events gathering two European Rover representatives from each NSA to talk about rovering, project management, youth empowerment and involvement in decision-making, mentoring, etc. Today, this event becomes an amazing opportunity to strengthen inter-regional exchanges and launch new dynamics within the Agora itself thanks to a greater inter-cultural dimension. Building on the experience acquired during the past five years, Agora is moving forward and transforming itself to become Inter-Regional! Welcome!
An Agora is an educational tool that uses the Scout Method to reach the educational objectives for the rover age section and that has a special emphasis on youth empowerment. What makes an Agora so special is that it is an event run "for Rovers, by Rovers". This way, the event can be expected to deal with issues of importance and relevance to young people in present day society. An Agora aims to be a meeting place in which dreams, feelings, concerns, experiences, ideas and paths cross together, are connected and shared; a crossroad that would be a source of inspiration and energy. It is a place where the fundamentals of Scouting are present in a way that is attractive to young people today. It is a place for debate and sharing as well as teaching and learning from one another. And most importantly, an Agora is about getting new motivation and direction to one’s path as a rover. Each event is focusing on a major theme, on which the programme is built upon. This year’s theme is “Youth Participation”, one of the most important strategic objectives for Scouting in the past years.
We invite maximum two rovers from your NSA to live this empowering, inspiring, meaningful but also fun and exciting experience built "for Rovers by Rovers", with the support of the European Scout Region and the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. We will encourage your Scouts, inspire them, and put them in a position to be actively involved. However, the Inter-Regional Agora is not only about education; it is also about letting young adults explore, share, and express themselves in an international environment.
Of course, the participant's profile is very important to ensure the relevance and quality of the event for the participants and their National Scout Associations. You will also find attached with this invitation the application form to return before February 16th, 2012. By February 17th, all participants (up to 45) will have received an acceptance letter giving them the last few details to be ready for the event (international and/or rover commissioners will be informed). Even though we doubt that there will be any problem on these matters: please note that the earlier you will send us your application form(s), the earlier we will be able to check if the representative(s) fit(s) the profile. Finally, you will find after the application form a document giving a quick overview and flavour of the European Agora 2011 (Alias-Rover). Thanks to this third document, we hope that you will grasp a sense of what an Agora can mean in concrete terms.
If you have any questions, comments or feedbacks related to the 1st Inter-Regional Agora 2012: please, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail at agora@scout.org. Here is also the Agora's website.
Yours in Scouting, the planning team.
Ciara (Ireland), Emil (Denmark), Niels (The Netherlands) & Vincent (France).
