| European Scout Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
 Map of members or potential members of the European Scout Region (marked in blue).Andorra andVatican City, with currently no recognized Scouting, and other countries outside the European Scout Region are marked in grey | |||
| Owner | World Organization of the Scout Movement | ||
| Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland | ||
| Membership | 2.1 million | ||
| Chair | Diana Slabu[1] 2025 – 2028 | ||
| Regional Director | Abir Koubaa | ||
| Vice Chair | José Pamplona[1] 2025 – 2028 | ||
| Website www | |||
 Scouting portal | |||
TheEuropean Scout Region is one of five geographical subdivisions of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement, headquartered inGeneva, Switzerland, with a satellite office inBrussels, Belgium.
It is a vital part of the global Scouting community, plays a pivotal role in shaping the future leaders of Europe. It is a vibrant network of 47 National Scout Organizations, fostering a spirit of unity and camaraderie among young people across geographical and cultural boundaries.[2] The region is not confined to Europe alone; it extends its reach to countries likeCyprus,Turkey, andIsrael, reflecting the inclusive and diverse nature of Scouting.[2] Through its various initiatives and programs, the European Scout Region is committed to promotingpersonal development, mutual understanding, and a sense ofEuropean citizenship among its members.[3][4]
The European Scout Region comprises 47 National Scout Organizations that are members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, and servicesScouting inWestern andCentral andEastern Europe, inclusive, for cultural reasons, ofCyprus (technically not part of Europe, but a member-state of theEuropean Union) and Turkey (which spans across two continents), and, as a member of theUnited Nations'Western European and Others Group, Israel (despite being part of Asia due to them being barred in its own continent's organizations under theArab-led boycott). TheWorld Organization of the Scout Movement recognises at most one member organisation per country. Some countries have several organisations combined as a federation, with different component groups divided on the basis of religion (e.g., France and Denmark), ethnic identification (e.g., Bosnia-Herzegovina), or language (e.g., Belgium).
All the formerlycommunist states ofCentral andEastern Europe and theSoviet Union have developed or are developing Scouting in the wake of the renaissance in the region. These includeAlbania,Bulgaria,East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the successor states toCzechoslovakia,Yugoslavia and theBaltic nations independent of the former Soviet Union. Of these, Poland, theCzech Republic and Hungary have been most successful in regrowing their Scout movements and are very well-developed, thanks in part to the existence of Scouts-in-Exile movements for the diaspora of each nation.
The European Scout Conference is the governing body of the European Scout Region and meets every three years. Its purposes are:
The 20th European Scout Conference was hosted byGuidisme et Scoutisme en Belgique and was held inBrussels, Belgium, from 17 to 21 July 2010.
The 21st European Scout Conference took place inBerlin, Germany, in August 2013, hosted by theRing Deutscher Pfadfinderverbände.
The 22nd conference took place in 2016 in Norway.[12]The 23rd conference took place in 2019 inSplit, Croatia.[13]
The 24th conference was hosted byScouting Nederland.[14] It took place in Rotterdam from 22 to 26 July 2022.
The 25th conference will be hosted in Austria in 2025 byPfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs.
The European Regional Scout Committee is the executive body of the European Regional Scout Conference and is composed of six elected volunteer members.
The functions of the European Regional Scout Committee are:
The members of the European Regional Scout Committee are elected for a three-year term by the European Regional Scout Conference, and may be re-elected for an immediate second term. The members, elected without regard to their nationality, do not represent their country or National Scout Organisation but the interests of the Scout Movement as a whole, similar to Members of theWorld Scout Committee.
The Regional Director (professional position) and the Treasurer of the European Scout Region (volunteer position) are ex-officio members of the European Regional Scout Committee. The Chairman of theEuropean Scout Foundation also regularly attends meetings of the European Regional Scout Committee.
The European Regional Scout Office serves as secretariat of the European Scout Region and is one of six Regional Offices of theWorld Scout Bureau, the secretariat of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement. A Regional Director heads the European Regional Scout Office and is assisted by a number of professional staff. Currently, the European Regional Scout Office has offices inGeneva, Switzerland andBrussels, Belgium.
In 2010, the 20th European Scout Conference adopted the European Regional Scout Plan 2010–2013, which summarises the Region's main areas of work, objectives and action planned for the triennium 2010–2013.
In order to achieve the objectives set out by the European Regional Scout Plan 2010–2013, five thematic Working Groups and three supporting Core Groups were set up in December 2010, composed of volunteers from different member organisations of the European Scout Region and supported by members of the European Regional Scout Committee and the European Regional Scout Office.
Working Groups:
Core Groups:
The needs of Scout youth in unusual situations has created some interesting permutations, answerable directly to theWorld Scout Bureau. For years there was an activeBoy Scouts of the United Nations inGeneva, as well as 84Scouts of the European Coal and Steel Community, an early precursor to theEuropean Union.
As one of the five geographical subdivisions of theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement the European Scout Region developed close relationships with a number of other Regions, in particular with theArab Scout Region and theAfrica Scout Region.
The European Scout Region also supports multilateral and bilateral relationships between National Scout Organisations of the European Scout Region with Scout associations of other Regions.
This region is the counterpart of theEurope Region of theWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). The European Scout Region has a strong relationship with the Europe Region of WAGGGS. To further develop their relationship, the two Regions had a Joint Regional Office during the late 1990s inBrussels, Belgium, which was closed again in 1998.
An informal Joint Regional Committee composed of the two Regional Committees continues to discuss matters of mutual interest and supports the planning and running of joint youth activities and training events.[citation needed]
The two Regions also maintain a Joint Communication Platform (Europak), which provides information for member organisations of the European Scout Region and the Europe Region WAGGGS. Together published a monthly newsletter calledEurofax (this newsletter was already published by the European Scout Office before the joint office was opened, and reverted to WOSM when the joint office closed.
The European Scout Region represents theWorld Organization of the Scout Movement in a number of relevant inter-governmental institutions as well as non-governmental platforms in Europe. This includes, in particular, theEuropean Youth Forum (YFJ), which operates within theCouncil of Europe andEuropean Union areas and works closely with these two bodies. It is also represented in the Advisory Council on Youth of theCouncil of Europe and has regular contacts with relevant institutions of theEuropean Union.
A WOSM joint Eurasian-and-European Scout meeting was held inKyiv in April 2009.
In 2023, it was decided to dissolve the Eurasian Region, on 30 September.[15][16]Ukraine,Moldova,Belarus,Georgia,Armenia, andAzerbaijan joined the European Region on 1 October,[16] whileKazakhstan andTajikistan joined the Asia-Pacific Region.[15]
The European Scout Region offers a number of sharing and training activities for its member organizations, a number of which are organised jointly with theEurope Region of WAGGGS. The main purpose of these activities is to provide opportunities for sharing and exchanging of experiences and best practices as well as training for adult volunteers and professionals involved in Scouting.
Among regularly held events are:
The European Scout Region also supports informal networks of member organisations of the European Scout Region which provide platforms for dialogue and exchange in specific areas:
The European Region of WOSM was the organizer of theEuropean Scout Jamboree, which has been organized twice, in both cases as adry run for aWorld Scout Jamboree organized in the same country within a few years. European jamborees were open to youth between the ages of 11 and 17, however many adults are involved asScout leaders or as members of the IST (International Service Team),
Past European Scout Jamborees include:
The European Jamboree 2020, a joint event between WOSM and WAGGGS' European Regions, was planned to take place on Sobieszewo Island, in Gdańsk, Poland, with a target of 30,000 participants. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was initially postponed in April 2020 to summer of 2021, before being cancelled in November 2020.
Roverway is a joint activity of the European Region of WOSM and theEurope Region of WAGGGS, a ten-day event open for youth aged 16 to 22, who are members of the senior branches of member organisations of WOSM or WAGGGS. The activity was introduced in 2003 (as a follow-up to theEurofolk event that existed from 1977 to 1997) and consists usually of two stages: a "journey" with small units of Scouts making their way to the main camp, which is the second stage.
Roverway is usually held every three years and hosted by a member organisation of the European Scout Region:
Two other multinational Europe-specific Scout organizations exist, not linked to WOSM, the only geographic area to have such. These are theConfédération Européenne de Scoutisme and theUnion Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe.