World Scout Moot taking Aussies to Portugal
Published Mon 26 Aug 2024
There is nothing quite like the atmosphere of a World Scout Moot and one Leader at 1st Mudgee Scout Group is making sure our Rover Scouts experience every bit of it.
Steven Shephard is heading up the Australian Contingent for the 16th World Scout Moot being held in Portugal from 25 July to 3 August 2025. The 1st Mudgee Scout Group Assistant Venturer Scout Leader has been attending international events since 2011 when he was in Sweden for the World Scout Jamboree.
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“I put my hand up for this role to help give the next generation of Rover Scouts the experiences of an international event. Unfortunately, because of COVID, the one in Ireland in 2022 didn’t eventuate,” he said.
“Typically in Rovers, because you get an eight-year period to do Rovers and the World Moots are every four years, you usually get two chances to go. So if, for example, someone missed out in Ireland, this is the only chance they’ll get.
“I did the numbers – every Rover that is going to this World Moot in Portugal would never have been to one before, because it would have been eight years since the last one, so the whole generation of Rovers would have come and gone.”
While applications for the World Scout Moot Australian Contingent have now closed, Steven and his team are continuing to excitedly share many of the plans around the event. Because this adventure does not need to just be a trip to Portugal – contingent members can also register for the pre-tour to Spain from 15-23 July and/or the post-tour in Morocco from 4-13 August.
Steven said it was a great way to experience an amazing part of the world.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel with Scouts, meet other likeminded people, meet people you wouldn’t meet in any other opportunity,” he said.
“I can’t think of many other opportunities where you’ll meet people from quite literally everywhere in the world, almost every country. It’s a great opportunity to meet likeminded people, go on an adventure unlike any other, be part of something bigger.”
Steven’s experience as an electrical engineer at a mine in Mudgee has helped him prepare for being Contingent Leader, as well as filling the same role in other, smaller events. He said the position requires strong project management skills.
“For people who haven’t done it before, managing people, managing budgets and managing different cultures and expectations is a big issue,” he said. “For example, last year I was at the 1st Africa Rover Moot in Kenya and there were some cultural differences between Australia and the Kenyans, so being adaptive to other cultures and being open minded is very important.
“There’s also the boring stuff like the budgeting, the risk assessments and the contingency planning – that’s obviously a big one. For people who put their hat in the ring for it, they’ve obviously got to be prepared to prepare a budget and a risk assessment and all the other paperwork management stuff you’re going to do.”
While the contingency planning has increased since the challenging World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and weather events such as bushfires on events in the past, it is all part of Scouts’ ability to adapt to changing conditions and helps with building resilience. Steven, who attended the World Scout Jamboree, said he loved every minute of the event.
“The drama and the chaos I know was stressful for some people, but when I was there I thought there was no place I’d rather be. At no point did I want to leave the site because of the people that were there. Experiencing something like that – you’ll never get another Jamboree like that again and that’s what I like to take from it.”
Steven said he liked Scouts because it was an escape from the other stresses in life. Having the opportunity to go to Scouts and go on a camp on the weekend or go on adventure creates a nice separation from working life.
“The people in Scouting is probably the best part,” he said. “Some of my best friends I’ve met were in Rovers, so that’s probably the bit I like about it too. It’s a good escapism and there’s always people that are happy to hang out and go on an adventure, meet up and relax.”
