Hangar for Scouting Camps

Project Description

There are around 100 scout camps each year in Slovenia, let alone other organisations (like volunteer fire departments, mountaineering association and sport clubs). But there is a very limited offer of campsites – local farmers transform greenlands and meadows into fields or they establish public campsites for individuals.

As we have noticed in the past years, less and less suitable meadows are available. This is a serious threat to scouting as we know it – scouting that offers young people the possibility to spend some quality time in nature and to learn how to live a sustainable life without all the modern technology. In this scope, we are setting up a new scout campsite that will be available for youth groups from all over Slovenia and abroad. This won’t be a campsite for individual tourists, but a green oasis with specific programme activities.

We have already acquired an appropriate meadow near Kanal ob Soči with our own assets. But it is not yet suitable for groups as it lacks some of the basic infrastructure. The development of the campsite will be led by young adults in scouting (age 16 and above, so mainly high school students and students), mentored by older and more experienced scouts with specific knowledge (experts in scout pioneering, civil engineer, association’s financial manager etc.).

This project is concentrated in young people’s development of their skills – from social skills (coordinating the team, communicating with experts, municipality officials and national scout organisation representatives), legal and environmental matters (legislation, nature preservation) to financial objectives (preparing a list of expenses, managing budget, financial reporting).

The second objective is to prepare a campsite in the above mentioned matter and to prepare a list of activities that youth groups could do. This also includes a modern presentation of the campsite (drone photos, web page etc.) and effective PR activities among the interested public. Both these objectives go hand in hand and need to be developed simultaneously. First, the project team will have to prepare all the necessary work to connect the campsite to the public water system. We have already spoken to the municipality officials who confirmed that this is possible.

Team will have to plan the best route, buy all the materials necessary and also do the voluntary work in the field (digging the channel for the pipe, connecting it and similar).

Next, the team will prepare everything needed for a small solar cell system. We have some experiences with a similar system we own and use at our camps (we received funding from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport for it and we renewed and extended it this year), but here we want to develop the system further. This includes the design of the system (all the parts needed, size and capacity of the system), placing the system the right way on the campsite, connecting it and similar activities.

We will also need a small shed to place the solar cells on and protect the other components from weather. This will also be an important step towards the use of more renewable resources and also an educational opportunity for the team and all the users of the campsite. We will prepare our campsite in the most sustainable way reasonably possible. That is why we plan to set up a biological wastewater treatment plant based on specific gravel and plants that can meet all the environmental limits (with a guarantee). We will use it to clean all the wastewater from cleaning, personal higiene, cooking and washing.

Toilets will be arranged separately and chemical toilets with closed septic tanks will be used and maintained by a specialist company. We believe this will be the first campsite with such a wastewater plant and will therefore be a bright example of good practise in lowering the impact on nature. We also plan to prepare some activities, e.g. flying fox over the campsite, small climbing wall on the natural rock by the campsite, cleaning the river bank to make a natural beach and plant some additional trees to make more shadow.

The team will cooperate with the locals during the project in order to identify all the possible activities in the surrounding area. Finally, the project team will prepare a web page with a thorough description of the campsite, its low ecological impact and the activities that can be done on the campsite and in the surrounding area. These promotional activities will also be focused in promotion of environmentally friendly solutions, implemented on the campsite. During the implementation of this project, we will also seek expertise in the USA to share their good practices with us and help us implement environmentally sustainable solutions. We have been in touch with the BSA’s National Sustainability Director who is willing to provide a training event for outdoor ethics and sustainability. For connections with scout units in the USA we are in touch with the International Representative for the Denver Area and with a scout leader within the Los Padres Council. They are both very interested in networking between our group and theirs for sharing good practices and ideas.

This project will also have an important influence on the after-COVID recovery. Youngsters were deprived of the social interaction and practical skills, but these activities reinforce the in-person team work and practical skills in nature. It will also give a new push to outdoor activities and scout programme in Slovenia. As the outcomes of the project will be seen especially in the small and a bit remote municipality of Kanal ob Soči, the project will help further develop rural and less-known areas in Slovenia. Campsite will serve as a new opportunity for different scout programme activities.

We plan following activities in the next year (2022): smaller working scout camp to prepare the campsite (our group, approximately 15 people, 4 days), summer scout camp (our group, approximately 80 people, 14 days); one foreign group (depending on the coronavirus safety measures).

This project will be managed in Kranj, hometown of the applicant. The campsite is located in Bodrež in the municipality of Kanal ob Soči, where all the on-site activities will take place. The planning activities will start already in September as good planning is a key to a successful project. Activities will continue throughout the whole year, main on-site activities will take place from the end of April until the end of June 2022, when the campsite will be ready to accept first youth groups. We plan to finish the project in the beginning of September next year, when the first camps will be over and the evaluation can be made. We will conclude the project with a public final report and with a presentation of the project to the interested public (especially Slovenian scout groups). The project will also have a strong educational value.

Beside the before-mentioned activities, we will host Boy Scouts of America’s National Sustainability Director who is willing to provide a workshop for our group about establishing a sustainable campsite and outdoor ethics. Because of all the COVID related restrictions, we will host him online. Participants will get in touch with web page development for the first time: a team led by an IT specialist will start with drawing the wireframes and searching for the use cases on the web page, they will prepare the photo-video material for the page, write content and translate it in English, set up the page and test it and finally publish it. Evaluation is an important part of every scout project, so will put emphasis on the evaluation process. Although participants are used to evaluate own activities, such a big project will need new approaches and activities, so this will also be a new experience for them.

Support required from FOSE: 3 000 €