Gdańsk, a great place to host the World Scout Jamboree

Gdańsk, a great place to host the World Scout Jamboree
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World Scout Jamboree is the most important event of the World Scout Movement (WOSM). It is attended by young people aged 14-17 who are members of national scout organizations. Every four years in various countries they experience the greatest adventure of their life. Gdansk has a great chance to organize the event in the beautiful Baltic Sea on Sobieszewo Island in 2023. The decision will be taken on August 16.

Traveling to the World Scout Jamboree is a unique event for every girl and boy scout. Participants may go only once. Recruitment takes place 2-3 years before the event, because the number of available places is limited. Usually, the largest contingent comes from the US and has about 1000 people. At the last Jamboree in Japan, 2015, 350 Scouts represented Poland.

Of great importance are the events connected to the home hospitality, where the host country proposes hospitality in the homes of local scouts and scouts, so that scout visitors can learn about the culture, customs and everyday life in a given country. On August 16, at the World Scout Conference in Baku, the host country of World Scout Jamboree 2023 will be selected.

Lech Walesa supports candidacy of Poland to host World Scout Jamboree

Lech Walesa supports candidacy of Poland to host World Scout Jamboree

J. Pinkas

Our candidacy, managed jointly by the forces of the City of Gdansk and the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association has some very strong points:

The location of the gathering place: a green, natural meadow on the Sobieszewska Island, crossed by canals, is ideally suited for the construction of a large encampment. Small architecture, centrally located sea beach, a theatrical scene, program points, campsites - all this will make the Island a true small city within the city. By building it, we will follow a sustainable, ecological approach, and many of the materials used will be recycled.

Sobieszewo Island

Sobieszewo Island

PeWu / flickr.com / CC
Sobieszewo Island

Sobieszewo Island

A route to Gdansk: Gdansk airport is well connected with the biggest hubs in Europe: Amsterdam, Munich and Frankfurt, and the airport access to the center, thanks to the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway takes less than 20 minutes. The flight between Warsaw and Gdansk is less than 50 minutes and the fast train connection takes 2 hours and 50 minutes. Scouts from the Scandinavian countries can reach us by ferry, and our neighbor countries - by buses, to efficiently and safely reach Gdansk by new motorways.

It takes lass than 3 hours to travel between capital city of Warsaw and Gdansk

It takes lass than 3 hours to travel between capital city of Warsaw and Gdansk

Chris0693 / Wikipedia / CC

Educational program: It is a very important point of our candidacy. Gdansk, a city of freedom and solidarity, perfectly fits in with the motto of the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association candidacy: Be The Spark. It was from Gdansk that Solidarity spark came out, which launched peaceful transition in the world after 1989. The program idea around which classes and educational workshops are being built is: “wake up - look around - act, and make it worth it”. It is the way for us to show that small, local actions are important. The Jamboree program will encourage scouts to look around and see the social and environmental challenges facing the world.

Lech Walesa from Gdansk led the peaceful transformation of Poland

Lech Walesa from Gdansk led the peaceful transformation of Poland

Leszek Biernacki / ECS

The sightseeing program: Kashubian Lake District, also called Kashubian Switzerland, is a beautiful land of lakes, forests and hills. It will be in the Kashubian Lake District, that the off-site Jamboree program will be located. We will visit the open-air museum - the Archaeological Museum in Wdzydze Kiszewskie, the Education and Promotion Center in Szymbark and the lookout tower in Wierzyca. The Kashubian District is a place where scouts traditionally camp in the summer, so we will frequently meet them on our way. It is also an ideal place for kayaking. The tourist facility is well equipped and allows for the organization of large sailing events.

Kashubian lakes

Kashubian lakes

altotemi / flickr / cc
Kashubian Ethnographic Park in Wdzydze

Kashubian Ethnographic Park in Wdzydze

Polimerek / Wikipedia / cc

Gdansk is a cultural and intercultural city: the summer in Gdansk features traditional St. Dominic Fair, FETA street theatre festival and the Shakespearian Festival, open air concerts, breakfast fairs and night markets. The city is home to several important national and European institutions: the Museum of the Second World War, the European Solidarity Center, the Amber Museum, the Museum of the History of the City of Gdansk, the Wisłoujście Fortress. Westerplatte is the place where the Second World War began. Gdansk is a medieval city of many cultures (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim). We continue this tradition of tolerance today, introducing the first in Poland model of immigrants integration, and the Council for Equal Treatment.

St. Dominic’s Fair in Gdansk

St. Dominic’s Fair in Gdansk

mtg
FETA street theaters festival in Gdansk

FETA street theaters festival in Gdansk

K. Stanczak
The duke and duchess of Cambridge visiting the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk

The duke and duchess of Cambridge visiting the European Solidarity Center in Gdansk

Dawid Linkowski / ECS
European Solidarity Center in Gdansk

European Solidarity Center in Gdansk

gdansk.pl
Council of immigrants, which advise me on immigration issues in Gdansk

Council of immigrants, which advise me on immigration issues in Gdansk

G. Mehring

Polish Scouting and Guiding Association is an experienced partner and event organizer. It organised the Central European Jamboree, which is rotated every two years among the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. In 2016 at CEJ in Wroclaw gathered around 2 000 scouts from several countries of the world, mainly from Central Europe, Arab countries, and Asia-Pacific countries. The rally was fully prepared and run in English. In January 2016, Polish Scouting and Guiding Association hosted the International Commissioners Forum of the European Region of WOSM and WAGGS. More than 150 scout leaders from 49 countries took part in this event at the European Solidarity Center. The organization of this event was highly praised by the participants.

In 2015, it organised the InterCamp in the town of Nysa for 2700 scouts from 21 countries. In 2008 and 2015 the Polish Scouting and Guiding Association (ZHP) hosted the Baltic Sea Meeting in Gdansk. In 2000, a meeting of the World Scout Union Parliamentary Union was held in Warsaw, in our parliament.

Hundreds of ZHP instructors were involved in the organization of UEFA EURO football championship 2012 (games were held in Gdansk) and also provided the medical coverage of the World Youth Days in Krakow 2016 and other international events. The International Media Center, located at the Amber Expo Site, will be the venue for the largest trade fairs and conferences, providing the world's media, meetings, press conferences, briefings, as well as radio and television broadcasts. About 50,000 people attend this year Scout Jamboree. The last World Scout Jamboree took place in Japan in 2015, the next, in 2019 will take place in the USA. The host of the next Jamboree, in 2023, will make the World Scout Conference 2017, which will take place in mid-August in Azerbaijan. The last event held in Central or Eastern Europe was in Hungary in 1933.

Be the spark!

Be the spark!

J. Pinkas

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