Today’s dynamic and fast-paced society is changing the world around us and creating exciting new challenges and opportunities for Scouting as well as learning opportunities for young people.

Advancements in technology, innovation, methods of delivering programmes, socio-economic stands, the Sustainable Development Goals, young people’s interests, and social media – to name just a few –, are among the many factors that National Scout Organizations (NSOs) are considering when reviewing or renewing their Youth Programme. The challenge is to find out how society, education, and culture have impacted the way we do Scouting and how the Youth Programme can remain relevant and aligned with the fundamentals of Scouting.

Echoing this sentiment was Madhusudan A S, an International Commissioner at the Bharat Scouts and Guides, India:

“We are in the race to capture young people's attention and time. If we do not offer them what they need … we will not be relevant with our Youth Programme nor be the preferred youth movement for the young people,” he said.

Leveraging innovation to meet young people’s needs

Across the world, changing trends are encouraging many NSOs, such as Honduras, Mexico, and Nepal, to re-strategise, review, and renew their Youth Programmes by leveraging technology and innovation to ensure they remain relevant, attractive, and responsive to young people’s needs.

This led the Bharat Scouts and Guides to kick start the process of developing a renewed Youth Programme for all Scouting age sections, using the Guide to Youth Programme (GPS) as their main reference tool, with support from WOSM Services.

This initiative is expected to have huge impacts. Teamwork and intergenerational engagements between young people, adult leaders, psychologists, experts from the field of education, and other fields are all being explored. Meanwhile, an extensive range of research methods, such as desktop research, surveys, and focus groups, are also being used to collect inputs and recommendations so that all stakeholders can participate. 

Contributing to Scouting’s Vision 2023

The Bharat Scouts and Guides are excited to begin this journey. Its efforts will help ensure that the NSO’s Youth Programme will be appealing and advance the holistic development of India’s roughly 3.8 million Scouts with the view to grow this figure. It will also contribute to Scouting’s Vision 2023 of becoming “will be the world's leading educational youth movement, enabling 100 million young people to be active.” 

In sharing further insights on developing a programme tailored to young people, Madhusudan added: “I allow the excitement of what I experienced as a boy to guide me in the process of giving a new programme for millions of young people in the country and I do expect this will be able to reach out to every section of the youth”.

Borrowing from the Bharat Scouts and Guides’ experience and contemporary trends across the globe, it is time for our Movement to work together to review and renew our Youth Programmes with GPS.