The European Scout Jamboree (or EuroJam) is an international Scouting

jamboree In Scouting, a jamboree is a large gathering of Scouting, Scouts who rally at a national or international level. History The 1st World Scout Jamboree was held in 1920, and was hosted by the United Kingdom. Since then, there have been twenty-thre ...

, which is organized at irregular times by the European Scout Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). So far, two European Scout Jamborees have been held as a dress rehearsal for the World Scout Jamborees to be held one or two years later at the same site, each with about 10,000 participants: * EuroJam 1994 in

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and youngest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

, Netherlands * EuroJam 2005 in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, England

European Scout Jamboree 1994

The first European Scout Jamboree was an initiative of the Dutch World Jamboree Organizing Committee. When Scouting Nederland won the bid of the

18th World Scout Jamboree The 18th World Scout Jamboree (Dutch: ''18e Wereldjamboree'') was held August 1 to 11, 1995 and was hosted by the Netherlands on a polder near Biddinghuizen, Dronten community, Flevoland. 28,960 Scouts and staff members from 166 countries and ter ...

, it was decided to organize a big event a year earlier, as a test run for such a big event. It was located in

Biddinghuizen Biddinghuizen () is a village in the municipality of Dronten in the Netherlands. It is situated in the center of the province of Flevoland, about north of the city of Harderwijk. On 1 January 2018, the village had 6,295 inhabitants.Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Essex, near Gilwell Park, an important campsite and training center for Scout Leaders. About 10,000 Scouts from 67 countries were involved; it was considered the biggest Scout gathering in Europe for over 10 years and 50 years in the United Kingdom. It was also a dry run allowing the organization team of the 21st World Scout Jamboree to test a number of aspects of the upcoming event. traffic issues, necessary infrastructures and logistics. The event was made for Scouts and Guides aged 15–18 in summer 2005 from Europe and beyond. There were five main groups of people at EuroJam. The different border colors of their official EuroJam scarves identified them. * Participants used yellow border. * Troop/Unit used green border. * International Service Team (IST) used medium-blue border. * Contingent, National and Regional Staff used navy-blue border. * Jamboree Organizing Team (JOT) used purple border. Sub-camps were "Home" areas for the duration of EuroJam. There were 8 sub-camps for participants, named after rivers and mountains in Europe. They were separated by "Hubs", Mountain Hub and River Hub. Mountain Hub sub-camps: Alp,

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

, Pyrenees, Snowdonia. River Hub sub-camps: Danube,

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

, Rhine, Tagus. There was also an adult sub-camp, Lake Geneva. The Plaza was the central area of the campsite, located in front of Hylands House. The Plaza was the location for all services that the participants needed during EuroJam. The Plaza included shops, cafes, an internet cafe, payphone, the EuroJam radio station and areas for the "Evening Programme" The program was a wide range of activities on the main site and three off-site locations. EuroVille was packed full of activities ranging from sports to music, from culture to technology, and from creativity to global development. There were five EuroVilles around the site, named after seas in Europe, Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea, Irish Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea. EuroVille activities were specially created by Scouts and Guides from across Europe for EuroJam. Global Development Village gave the participants the chance to learn how to change the world for good – through hands-on activities run by some of the organisations already doing so. Choice Time provided participants with areas around the EuroJam campsite to meet new friends, and try out a range of walk-in activities. Participants could also explore other Programme areas as: * Energise: Challenges and activities, covering topics such as survival, teamwork, relaxation and a full-size circus. * Global Development Boulevard: A special exhibition area with display and drop-in activities for anyone to visit. Some of the tents had displays by organisations such as

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

to give the participants information of global issues, and other tent * Village UK: An exhibition about the UK * Faith and Beliefs Zone: A place set aside for participants to explore aspects of faith and beliefs. Represented religions were Buddhism,

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, Catholicism,

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

. Touring the SubCamps were five specially-modified double-decker

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

. Each GloBus had a different theme to introduce participants to topics affecting the world today.

European Jamboree 2020

After delegates to the World Scout Conference in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

2017 decided that the

25th World Scout Jamboree The 25th World Scout Jamboree will be held August 1–12, 2023 at Saemangeum, North Jeolla, South Korea, hosted by Korea Scout Association with the theme, "Draw Your Dream". About 30,000 to 50,000 participants are expected to attend. The theme, ...

would take place in Korea in 2023, Scouts from almost 30 European countries requested the Polish Scouting Association to consider organizing Eurojam. European Scout organizations therefore set into motion that "European Jamboree 2020" will take place on

Sobieszewo Island Sobieszewo Island (; ; formerly ) is an island on the Baltic Sea, between the Gdańsk Bay and the delta of Vistula river. The island is part of the territory of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. Location The northern border of the island is the wate ...

, in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland, with a target of 25,000 participants. The event is a collaboration between WOSM and WAGGGS' European Regions. The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association had earlier envisaged a Eurojam event in 2021 in preparation for hosting the World Jamboree in 2023. In summer 2018 ZHP organized the Polish National Scout Jamboree, which was considered as a preparational event for the European Jamboree. By August 2019, the estimated attence level was raised to 30,000 participants (youth and adult). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was initially postponed in April 2020 to summer of 2021, before being cancelled in November 2020.

Other EuroJams

Other international Scout associations have also organized events under the name Eurojam, but generally have fewer participants. These agencies include the Confédération Européenne de Scoutisme (CES) and the Union Internationale des Guides et Scouts d'Europe (UIGSE).

UIGSE Eurojams

The Eurojams organized by UIGSE take place every 10 or so years. Past Eurojams are: * Eurojam 1984 in Velles,

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

, France with 5000 participants * Eurojam 1994 in Viterbo, Italy; Pope John Paul II received 7500 Scouts in the

Basilica of St. Peter The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a Church (building), church built in the Renaissance architecture, Renaissanc ...

in Rome * Eurojam 2003 on August 11, 2003 in Żelazko, Poland, with 8000 youths from fifteen European countries * Eurojam 2014 in Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois in Normandy, France, with 12500 participants

CES EuroJams

The EuroJams organized by the CES have been:

Notes

External links

Official site of EuroJam 2014Official site of European Jamboree 2020
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320204235/https://ej2020.org/ , date=20 March 2019 Scouting jamborees Festivals in Europe