World Scout Moot

World Scout Moot
World Scout Moot
Country	various (list below)
Date	1931 onwards
	Scouting portal

The World Scout Moot is an event for senior branches of Scouting (traditionally called Rovers) and other young adult Scouts, gathering up to 5,000 people. Moots provide an opportunity for young adults in Scouting to meet, with the objective of improving their international understanding as citizens of the world. Moots are held every four years and are organized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).^[1]

Participants must be 18–25 years old at the time of the event. Scouts who are 26 or older can take part as International Service Team (IST) volunteer staff.

History

Rover Moots were taking place at provincial, national and international levels in the UK, Australia and Canada from the mid-1920s.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The first World Rover Moot was held in 1931 at Kandersteg, Switzerland, with following events held almost every four years until 1961, when the 7th World Rover Moot took place in Melbourne, Australia. Originally entitled the "World Rover Moot", the Moot was replaced by World Moot Years between 1965 and 1982. This was done with the aim of increasing the number of events and accessibility to Rovers.

In 1985, after lobbying led by Australia, the World Scout Conference decided to reinstate the World Scout Moot to the calendar of world Scouting events, with the naming changed to reflect that not all countries had continued with a Rover section, notably the UK and the USA. At the World Scout Conference in January 1988, bids were presented by Australia and Switzerland, with Australia awarded the 8th World Scout Moot for Dec 1990/Jan 1991, and Switzerland granted the 9th World Scout Moot for July 1992. In 1993 it was decided to hold future Moots every four years.

The 10th World Scout Moot was hosted by Sweden in 1996, the 11th World Scout Moot by Mexico in 2000, and the 12th World Scout Moot by Taiwan in 2004. After originally scheduled for 2008 in Mozambique, the 13th World Scout Moot was held in Kenya in 2010 – the first ever such event to take place in Africa.

The 14th World Scout Moot was hosted by Canada in 2013, while the 15th World Scout Moot was held in Iceland in the summer of 2017.^[5] The 16th World Scout Moot was due to be in Ireland in 2021, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic the event was postponed to 2022 and subsequently cancelled.^[6] The next World Scout Moot will be hosted by Portugal in 2025.

List of Moots

Year	Number	Country	Location	Participants	Countries	Host Candidate Countries
1931	1st World Rover Moot	Switzerland	Kandersteg	3,000	20
1935	2nd World Rover Moot	Sweden	Ingarö	3,000	26 ^[7]
1939	3rd World Rover Moot	Scotland	Monzie	3,500	42
1949	4th World Rover Moot	Norway^[8]	Skjåk	2,500	40
1953	5th World Rover Moot^[9]	Switzerland	Kandersteg	4,168	41
1957	6th World Rover Moot^[8]	United Kingdom	Sutton Coldfield	3,500	61
1961	7th World Rover Moot^[10]^[8]	Australia	Melbourne	969	15
1965-66	Moot Year		10 Events	3,599
1969-70	Moot Year		26 Events	7,250
1973-74	Moot Year		22 Events	11,000
1977-78	Moot Year^[11]		23 Events	14,560
1981-82	Moot Year		31 Events	22,380
1990-91	8th World Moot	Australia	Melbourne	1,000	36
1992	9th World Moot	Switzerland	Kandersteg	1,400	52
1996	10th World Moot	Sweden	Ransbergs Herrgård, Ransäter	2,608	78
2000	11th World Scout Moot	Mexico		5,000	71
2004	12th World Scout Moot	Taiwan	Hualien	2,500	85	Austria^[12]
2008	13th World Scout Moot (cancelled) ^[13]	Mozambique	---	---	---	Iceland, Portugal^[14]
2010	13th World Scout Moot ^[15]	Kenya	Nairobi	1,924	66	---
2013	14th World Scout Moot ^[16]	Canada	Low, Quebec	2,000	83	---
2017	15th World Scout Moot	Iceland	Ulfljotsvatn	5,000	106	---
2022^[17]	16th World Scout Moot (cancelled) ^[6]	Ireland	Malahide Castle^[18]	---	---	Hungary
2025	16th World Scout Moot	Portugal^[19]	Buçaquinho Regional Scout Centre^[20]	up to 5,000 expected		Azerbaijan (withdrawn)^[21]
2029	17th World Scout Moot	TBD				Azerbaijan, Taiwan^[22]