Discover Scouts for SDGs!
Beyond the sheer number of community projects and hours of service delivered by Scouts, we know that the real impact is created when these actions drive lasting positive change, provide simple solutions to complex challenges, encourage others to join in and further increase that impact, shifting mindsets and creating more resilient and sustainable communities.
Every day, Scouts from around the world share their projects on the Scouts for SDGs Hub, to inspire other young people to take action. Here, we invite you to dive into two inspired approaches led by Scouts from the USA and Indonesia, and to also learn more about the impact of five years of Scouts for SDGs.
Scout Litter action in Texas!
USA Scout Daniel identified a growing issue with land-based litter ending up in local waterways in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, so he led his community in action to collectively tackle it!
He started the “LitterScout” project, a local conservation group, to inspire and engage young people, educating them about litter and its impact on waterways. He also began organising monthly litter clean-ups in three cities: Euless, Grapevine, and Colleyville.
“Find something important and just remember, you can do anything if you just put your mind to it!”
With the help of friends, school organisations, local Scout groups, and municipal governments, the project has run continuously for over three and a half years. Together, they have undertaken over 75,000 hours of service cleaning and protecting the local waterways and they continue to educate and enable others to join in to scale this action.
The LitterScout website features monthly blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos, whilst the “LitterScout” phone app Daniel also created decentralises litter clean-ups by crowdsourcing litter hot spots using GPS and photos! Daniel’s even written a children’s book on “Sustainable Living: Environmental Tips for Kids”!
In recognition of his outstanding Scouting Service to local communities, the BSA International Committee has awarded Daniel with the Messengers of Peace Distinguished Project Award.
Daniel’s project LitterScout also gained traction when he was awarded the 2023 Texas Environmental Excellence Award by the Texas Governor’s office, the State’s highest environmental conservation award for leading community members in conservation projects and educational outreach.
Indonesian Scout mangrove action!
On another continent, yet with a similar approach, Indonesian Scouts from Minahasa Utara, North Sulawesi, are playing a vital role in protecting their coastal ecosystems by educating their communities and leading collective action.
Scouts know that planting mangroves is key to reducing coastal abrasion. Mangroves slow down water flows such as waves, encourage sediment deposition and naturally serve as the first line of defence against flooding and erosion. This Scout-led action to promote and plant mangroves is helping to make their communities more resilient against climate change in order to safeguard local livelihoods, homes and security.
Across Indonesia, over 25 million Scouts (yes, 25 million!) are amplifying this action through service actions of their own to support education, equality, the environment, disaster preparedness, and more. Discover their actions posted regularly on the Scouts for SDGs Hub!
Largest youth-led mobilisation for SDGs
2023 marks five years of Scouts for SDGs, the largest youth-led contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals. This global mobilisation effort aims to inspire and enable young people through Scouting’s educational programme and local projects to be global citizens who take action to tackle the most pressing challenges facing our planet and young people today.
The Scouts for SDGs initiative was built on a longstanding partnership between Alwaleed Philanthropies, the World Scout Foundation, and the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Thanks to significant support from Alwaleed Philanthropies (USD 3.9M; 2019–2023), the initiative has equipped National Scout Organizations and millions of young people with the skills, competencies, resources, and tools to lead change in their communities and beyond.
According to the Scouts for SDGs evaluation, Scouts for SDGs-funded activities have positively inspired, informed, and motivated National Scout Organizations in all regions to take non-funded actions towards achieving the SDGs. Together with contributions from other World Scouting initiatives, National Scout Organizations and young people themselves, the initiative has achieved extensive reach in all the communities in which Scouts live and volunteer:
• 164 NSOs have integrated Scouts for SDGs into their youth programmes
• 73 NSOs benefited from funded projects under Scouts for SDGs
• Over 60,000 participated in funded projects via Scouts for SDGs
• Over 112 million participated in non-funded actions via Scouts for SDGs
• 112 funded capacity-building and community projects implemented
• Over 16.4 million non-funded actions for the SDGs undertaken by Scouts
• Over 2.7 billion service hours carried out in non-funded actions via Scouts for SDGs
• Over 521,000 service hours carried out in funded projects under Scouts for SDGs
• Estimated 5 million beneficiaries of funded projects under Scouts for SDGs
• Estimated 7.9 million beneficiaries of national action plans funded by Scouts for SDGs
By investing in young people at an early age and instilling a commitment to sustainability through educational programmes and activities, Scouting is empowering generations with the knowledge and skills they need to be champions for sustainability, creating an impact lasting well beyond 2030.
Scouts for SDGs: a funding priority
Scouting empowers young people to develop as active citizens who create positive change in their communities. World Scouting seeks new partners to increase our support — educational, in-kind and financial — for this priority area of work to contribute to the continued development of educational resources, training, activities, action kits for adult leaders and digital content to boost Scout action to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); imbed quality education on the SDGs in national Youth Programmes; and contribute to the delivery of an additional 25 million community service projects and actions over the next five years. We’d love to hear from you!
