Scouts in Denmark Challenge Taboos and Celebrate Democracy
What is actually the role of municipalities? And can you be a Scout as an adult? The Danish Scouts KFUM-Spejderne i Danmark participated this weekend in the yearly Youth Democracy Festival in collaboration with the Danish Arab Partnership Program.
Busses full of excited high schoolers kept hopping in and out of the Valby Park in Copenhagen. Here they were to attend the three-day yearly Youth Democracy Festival, which is the youth edition of a highly popular democracy Festival in Denmark, where politicians, organizations and companies come together with the ordinary Danish citizens, to discuss topics related to democracy and politics.
KFUM-Spejderne I Danmark participated this year as part of the Danish Arab Partnership Program delegation, to promote the international collaboration between the Tunisian Scout association Les Scouts Tunisiens and KFUM-Spejderne I Danmark – called Future Leaders. Future Leaders has been running for more than 10 years, promoting equality, democracy and entrepreneurship in Tunisia and Denmark.
As the high school students started strolling around to get an overview of the extraordinary festival area, it was time to start the first program prepared by the Scouts. Young people were invited to discuss how revolutionary movements take shape with the Arab Spring in Tunisia as a positive case study. The students were full of energy and opinions. They vehemently engaged in group discussions about how to restart a labor market, the role of municipalities and what to do when you encounter major crises in important industries, such as tourism.
The next day the Scouts collaborated with three other organizations, and Danish Arab Partnership Program, to host a workshop with the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs as attendant. In the end Nanna Vejbæk from KFUM-Spejderne I Danmark had a discussion with the minister on youth empowerment in the MENA region and Denmark.
Finally, the Scouts hosted a talk show where the term “Scout” was discussed. The audience could ask everything they wanted, to try to break down the prejudices surrounding Scouts in Denmark. The brave panelists did a great job in answering questions including values, international Scouting, active citizenship, non-formal education and friendship.
During the festival, more than 290 young people visited a program run by Scouts and both the Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Danish Minister of Development Corporation expressed their admiration for the ongoing partnership between Les Scouts Tunisiens and KFUM-Spejderne I Danmark.
The partnership is supported by the Danish Arab Partnership Program through the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Messengers of Peace and the Eric Trust Foundation and is extended until 2021.
If you would like to know more about the partnership, please search for #Tunisia_Denmark on your favorite social media platform or write an email to pda@tunisiadenmark.com.
This article has been written by Tobias Simonsen and edited by the European Scout Region.