If you intend to be directly involved during the event (and this includes also those who will take advantage of the broad range of possibilities to attend online a major part of the Congress), please make sure that you make your views known and encourage others to do so – it’s the only way to ensure that what is delivered at the Congress is what YOU want and what YOU need.
• There will be plenty of opportunities to stop at “cafés” and at some “street corners” to chat with your peers about the input received and what it means in the real world, back home. • After lunch, everyone is invited to “the Market”, where all sorts of products, sizes and colours are available to you. This is the heart of the City, where people discuss real Scouting, concrete ideas and form long lasting relationships. Based on your needs and interests you can choose from: -- WOSM input sessions, facilitated by a WOSM expert
The Congress will last for 3 days • starting on Friday, November 22nd 2013 with the Opening Ceremony at 09:00 (GMT+8) • closing on Sunday, November 24th 2013 with the Closing Ceremony at 21:00 (GMT+8)
-- Round tables and Think Tanks -- Panel discussions -- Training sessions -- Sharing sessions Every day will see 8 to 12 different such sessions, with some of them being repeated so participants would get a chance to choose a real tailored-made solution.
WORKING METHODS The work of the Congress is structured around the idea of a CITY. Not only you will actually be in one of the greatest cities in the world, but, as in any town, you will have the opportunity to choose your own way around in our symbolic city as well.
THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION EMERGED IN 1968 (COOMBS 1968)
The programme is flexible and complex, allowing (we hope) everyone to “navigate” their way across sessions, picking the areas and the methods that suit her or him best.
Each of the three days will be dedicated to one of the main areas defined for the Congress “education”, “life/society”, “impact of scouting” – and will follow a similar pattern. • Each morning we will discover “the city” from afar, with a plenary keynote address from a major speaker, who will present an innovative view on the theme of the day. • In the second part of the morning, participants will have the opportunity to enter inside the walls and choose a stroll in “the Central Square” (with a presentation from one of the themes of the day from guests representing a government organisation or and NGO), go up to “the University” (with an input from representatives of the academic world) or get excited in “the Stock Exchange” (where a session is organised by people representing the business or economic world).
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• Cafés and street corners are always options for a quick chat in the afternoon • After dinner, the programme becomes more informal, focusing on social life, with a number of “clubs” opened every evening. There is the “Book Club”, a resource centre and library for Scouting, “the Museum”, where NSOs have a chance to present their materials and projects to all those interested, the “Commissioners Club”, where national commissioners sharing similar responsibilities at national level (i.e. Rover Commissioners, Cub-Scout Commissioners, Training Commissioners, etc.) will have a chance to participate in facilitated exchanges, there’s a “Speaker’s Corner”, where anyone of you can propose topics for ad-hoc discussions, there’s the “Internet Café”, where you can get in contact live with our followers from across the globe and there is “the Emergency Room”, where major challenges that your NSO is “suffering” from might be alleviated after a one-to-one consultation with a WOSM expert. • Overall, 8 to 12 parallel sessions will be organised for participants to choose from. As you see, there is no shortage of opportunities to make the Congress a really relevant event for everyone involved. It is really up to the participants to get engaged all along the process of preparation and implementation. Together we might just be able to write history!