The Scouts of the World Award is an international award that can be completed by any scout worldwide. It is a Scout Network only award and has just recently been updated. The requirements are listed below or available on scouts.org.uk/sowa.
You must register by attending a Scouts of the World Discovery weekend and then filling in the form at scouts.org.uk/sowa.
Award participants must be aged between 18 and 25 years old and a member of Scout Network.
A Scouts of the World Award Discovery event is either a residential event or a number of shorter events but should involve at least 14 hours of learning delivered by SOWA Trainers. You must complete pre-course activities sent to you by the trainers prior to the event(s). The aim of the event is to broaden the participants understanding of the context behind the Award and global issues.
With the guidance of your SOWA mentor, you must plan a project based on one or more of the three themes (Peace, Environment and Sustainable Development).
Then complete your project based on the plan you put together with your mentor. The voluntary project should be a minimum of 80 hours (inc. planning time). You should inform the relevant commissioner (see online). The project should have clear objectives, timescales and be realistic. The project should have a long term impact on the community you are working with.
Make a presentation to cover your entire award. This should include evaluation questions such as: What challenges did I face and how did I overcome these? It should also include how you developed your: skills, cultural awareness, knowledge and attitudes. It should be presented to a relevant audience (could be the ACC, your Mentor etc.).
The relevant commissioner must sign off the award to show you’ve completed all of the sections to an acceptable level.
