BAS at World Scout Jamboree
BAS was invited to take part in the 21st World Scout Jamboree at Chelmsford in Essex to run one of the 100 activities in the Elements zone.
The Jamboree marks 100 years since Lord Baden-Powell set up the first experimental camp in 1907, and 40,000 Scouts, both male and female, have converged from around the world for their biggest-ever international gathering.
A small team from BAS Operations Group and Building Services Section put together a display featuring poster exhibits from Science Divisions, Halley VI, Antarctic clothing, and field equipment, including a tent, skidoo and sledge.
The Elements zone has an environmental focus and is designed to:
Excite – about possibilities for the future,
Motivate – action to change the way we live,
and to Challenge – thinking.
300 people a day (for the 8 day period) visited the display, taking a keen interest in the research being carried out by BAS. Lively debates in a variety of languages were aroused by the climate change posters and great interest was shown in the working conditions in Antarctica.
All the Scouts are currently living in a vast “tent city” and have been fascinated by the BAS way of life in the field, in pyramid tents. Many have been eager to learn more about BAS research, making note of the web address and taking brochures, with a great number enquiring also about their own country’s involvement in Antarctica and international co-operation.