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The story of the Scouts' and Guides' Global education week in Slovenia Mosaic of small actions that contribute to building peace and raising awareness of the

scale of interconnectedness in the world

We started slowly with informing our members that scouting and guiding has a hidden global

secret integrated its’ very essence and in basically everything we do on all levels – from the small

scout meeting of 5 boys on local level, to massive summer camps for 4000 members, from a smart

idea in girl guides adolescent minds to a strategic planning for national organization by executive

committee. Everything has a one common global secret in behind. And the global secret was:

“everything we do and strive for in scouting and guiding is only to make the global world a little

better than we found it”. Not making our troop, our scout/guide group, myself or my friend, our

town or village better – but the global world. “Global education” and new or complex words such

as “sustainability”, “social inequality”, “justice”, “zero-waste” and “critical and creative thinking”

were introduced through revealing that secret.

It doesn’t matter if we don’t repeat these

words through our daily volunteer work in

order to recognize that we are delivering

the global education in our natural ways

through our familiar scout method. In the

first year of the project, when I was

promoting the concept of global education

in Scouting and Guiding around Slovenia,

one of the leaders said to me – “but hey,

now that you explained what it is, we’re

already doing all of that – a lot – why are

you even bothering us with this, what’s the

point of making it difficult, we’re already

have a lot and even more than a lot to do?”

Hmm, why? It seemed we somehow gradually lost the connection between local and global, between

smaller actions/focused and bigger pictures/complex – that’s why. Through the project “Scouting

toward Global active citizenship” we wanted to raise awareness of consequences of our scout impact

and to bring the global world even closer to Slovenian small stories. It brought also quite some new

content in theory and material (mentioned above when stating the “difficult” words) to support

activities and motivate reflective social changes. In Slovenia it turned out that the best way that we

could deliver message and “try it out” was through Global education week that we launch each year

in November as suggested by Council of Europe1.

1 GE Week, Council of Europe: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/ge/gew_EN.asp, available on 21. 2. 2017.

Picture 1: The “open-doors day” with environmental workshops on a summer scout camp. Author: Mitja Kuret, ZSKSS.

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Why Global education week?

It somehow proved to be the just right combination of

suggested activities (not much planning needed; just deliver

and reflect), majority of options to tailor the activities

(adaptation to the needs of the scout/guide group or to the

needs of local environment), and free space to create own

activities and report. The second reason lies in the fact that we

managed to successfully get feedback from local units by optimizing the request to short story in form

of FB post, few pictures and reported numbers of participants. The third, we seize the opportunity of

the GE week already being promoted through other networks and media.

With the help of GE mentors and trainers, young scouts

and guides delivered around 67 global informed and

reflective actions in two years and 50 of them were

delivered just during GE weeks in 2015 and 2016! Actions

contributed to sustainable development, higher justice

and more responsible life choices. In order to get the

feedback and to monitor the GE impact we set some rules

for these actions to distinguish them from “all we do” in

scouting and guiding.

Statistics #tgu2016 #geweek2016 17 local units 28 actions 604 directly involved scouts and guides (Slovenia)

In the following text I would like to tell you short GE stories from the whole last year that culminated

with the GE-week actions in November and December. They can be separately taken out with an aim

to make the international “big picture” more coherent. However, this is Slovenian case and hopefully

one who reads this selection of stories could catch a feeling how GE is being integrated and delivered

through scout method during the year. Slowly, with silent small steps in society yet powerfully and life-

changing in individuals.

Small GE actions that we are proudly adding together as puzzles in the big picture Scouts and guides from Postojna local

unit “put on the shoes of refugees”,

pack their things for winter camp in a

different way that usually and went on

their road. Through ambientation2,

discussions, games and programme

workshops they learned about current

issues in Slovenia and the World and

worked on skills of empathy. They

2 Ambientation – scouts and guides prepare a story for all days of camp and develop the programme parts and details around that story. With the chosen story, we create environment / ambient to learn. In Slovenia we use the word »ambientation«. F.ex.: We choose Harry Potter or Eskimos thematic as an ambientation for three days on winter camp. Editor can use different word – more correct or suitable for English context.

Picture 2: It's not easy to put on someone elses' shoes, but sometimes it's necessary in order to bring about more interpersonal understanding. Foto: Arhive Maribor 2.

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upgraded their critical thinking skills by discussing different info from media. Similar did the scouts

from Maribor on their autumn camp. They combined the knowledge and ideas they gathered on

International event Roverway in France (workshop led by Italian scouts and guides: learning about

refugee issues through game) and from Slovenian

GE trainers.

The local unit Prebold-Polzela and their cubs

learned through playing “game of nations and

cultures”. It stimulated creative thinking about

international geography, citizen education and

scout skills. Scouts and guides from Železniki

played a board game “Bi-Pi’s world” where GE

trainers included also questions and challenges

from GE topics. During the board game there

should be some ideas sparkling for future actions

of changing the environment, society or

themselves to be more responsible and at least a

bit better, as Baden-Powell thought us.

Maybe fewer scouts and guides would think outside

the box if there wouldn’t be these GE programme

around, however we can say that some groups such as

Ribnica local unit intentionally prepare wider

cleaning and environmental actions then they would

normally do. They contacted sports’ associations and

fishermen’s association in local community and

together by cleaning and raising awareness took care

for at least a bit more beautiful day in their home

surroundings.

Rovers and rangers from Postojna researched the global

education hidden treasures through culinarian experience

and prepared a small “festival of world tastes” for parents

and wider local community. They cooked on open fire and

prepared together with visitors an afternoon cultural

programme inspired by different continents.

On summer camps, young scouts and guides turned

educational situation around and they “taught” those who

usually teach them. They prepared one-day programme on

“open-doors-day” for parents and local visitors called “Let ME teach YOU something”. Among visitors

some were also from another countries so kids from 10 to 13 years old challenged the facilitation of

programme in English language. They successfully broke stereotypes and prejudice among generations

(elders can teach us more) and meanwhile also improved intergenerational relations. Also, scouts and

guide from 6 to 21 years together opened “the doors of their summer camp” and prepared

environmental workshops to raise awareness about our every-day consumer habits, product chains

and alternatives we as individuals and as families could choose to be more responsible. Local group

from Rakova steza prepared a big simulation game called “To the kids of the world with Pippi

Longstocking”. They gamified the process of learning the continents, cultures, songs, languages and

Picture 4: Raising awareness station - environmental issues. Archive: Local unit Ribnica 1, Slovenia.

Picture 3: Important learning experiences about the world are gained through games on winter camps. Author: Local unit Prebold-Polzela 1, Slovenia.

Picture 5: Learning about the world through taste. Author: Local unit Postojna 1, Slovenia.

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current issues around the world. The “big game” finished with reflection and attempts to answer the

question – how could we contribute to nicer stories of children around the world?

Have you ever looked on production chain through children eyes? It’s definitely an experience for a

leader. Especially when trying to answer all those “digging it up” questions. Yes, it’s complex – but also

an 8 year old kid “votes for multicorporational products” each time he begs for something in the store.

Cubs from Novo Mesto addressed this issues and simulate the alternative “paths of an apple”. Parents

reported afterwards that kids suggested to buy fruits and vegetables on local market instead of in store

and that they started to ask questions “where is this from”.

In year 2016 we managed to carry out two international volunteer expeditions with “global education

subtitles” as we were describing them. First team went to Russia, Volgograd and met Russian scouts

on their camping site. They contributed help and programme in orphanage institution nearby for a

week. Meanwhile they build peace in the world by making true and lasting friends from different part

of the world. Second team started their school year on 1st of September in Kenya instead of in Slovenia.

They jointly prepared the whole programme with newly established scout group in Kibera slum. In

three weeks they worked in schools, hospitals, streets and homes. They left with enriched hearts and

minds and definitely more intercultural understanding which will hopefully have a spill-over effect

when more peace in the world is needed.

Picture 9: After a day in orphanage, scouts and guides gathered around campfire. Author: Expedition Volgograd Archive.

Picture 8: Peace and friendship through game. Author: Expedition KeniJA 2016 Archive.

Picture 6: Trying to buy local. Archive: Local unit Novo mesto 1.

Picture 7: Global education taking place somewhere "in between", buidling up in sincerity of relations with no need of classical school room or school bell to mark the beggining and the end of the learning process. Author: Local unit Rakova steza 1.

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GE week 2016 was titled “Acting together for the world of peace” as North-South Centre proposed for this year. GE trainers and project coordinator suggested 5 different activities for 5 different age sections and motivated leaders and rovers to adapt them or to prepare their own. Beavers learned about the power of the words. During the activity, they discussed 6 type of word families and learned that words can either heal or hurt – in any way they can have tremendous power. The inspiration lied in De Bono lateral thinking methods and in the fairy tale “Mr. Peabody Apples”. Cubs received a special task even before the action – each of them had to prepare or bring something to the regularly week meeting. They brought their rucksacks with them (each had something different inside) when they met for the meeting and went on a nearest hill from where they could see the surroundings. They shared what they brought in rucksacks and stressed the importance of individuals’ contributions for common wealth of the scout group. With the help of “old wolves” they discussed how do they see themselves as part of the world and tried to find as much layers as possible from individual person to the world and universe. Some heard for the first time that their town lied in this region or big valley, others count the stars in European flag for the first time, thirds learnt to draw the Slovenian flag correctly etc.

Scouts and guides from 9 different local units around Slovenia started massive detective action. They went on streets with their patrols and initiated discussions around the focal question “how do you manage

conflicts?” They gathered many different stories and approaches from young ones to old ones answering their curiosity and prepared presentations in patrols for their peers when the whole troop

Picture 11: Broadening horizons ... me, this hill/room, my town, my municipality, my valley, region, ... my world. Author of the photo: Local unit Škofije 1.

Picture 12: Toghether we are closer to right solution. Author: Local unit Ptuj 1.

Picture 13: "Hello madam, can you give us an example how do you solve conflicts?" Author of the picture: Local unit Bovec 1.

Picture 10: Be sure to taste you words, before you spit them out. Photo: Local unit Škofije 1.

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gathered. They discussed, reflect and finished with the “speed ball” game – where they explored the limits of their creative thinking by searching alternatives in solving problem. Rovers and rangers trained how to interchange and discuss with different opinions, values and perceptions. The method used was “four-folded method” with “I agree/I don’t agree/it depends/I partially agree” in four corners. They went deep into the conflict resolutions learning and discovered different theories along the way. They trained the skill of “asking good questions” and ended with “bottle of conflict” instead of famous game “truth bottle”. The bottle represented that the conflict always depends on where you choose to turn the bottle – it can either empower and strengthen or it can ruin the group. Some Rovers and rangers decided and visited other events organized during GE week in Slovenia – such as “live library” in the town of Kranj. Instead of books they rented real persons and discovered their story by listening and asking them instead of listing the pages of the book. Here is where we chose to end the collection of stories. All this together is somehow the story of global education on local level in Slovenia in this point in time – 2016. However, like said in the beginning, this are only the few stories scouts managed to frame and upgrade in GE in order to report … majority of stories stays untold, but we still believe they quietly, slowly but powerfully shift the worlds’ rivers towards bigger justice and sustainability.

Picture 14: The homogeneus group is more effective, diverse group has higher quality. Archive local unit Postojna 1.

Picture 15: Rovers visit to the "live library" that was just in town. Foto: Archive Kranj 1.