''Young people have the right to grow up in a healthy environment which provides facilities for them to grow and develop''

The environment includes our natural environment and our man-made environment. You will probably have undertaken some activities with your Scouts to explore our natural resources and how we can preserve these. In this chapter we will look at our man- made environment and explore how this can be made child-friendly. We will also explore the water cycle as it is important that clean water is available to everybody.

THE MAN-MADE ENVIRONMENT

Programme ideas
1. Why Healthy?

Young people have the right to grow up in a healthy environment which provides facilities for them to grow and develop. Ask the Scouts to make a list of the facilities which should be provided for young people of different age groups such as:
0-5 years, 5-11 years, 12-16 years, 16-18 years The Scouts can devise a questionnaire,
distribute it to lots of people and then collate the results. The Troop could then present their findings to one of your local community leaders, a religious leader or a district councilor.

Is there anything the Scouts can do to make their environment more child friendly?

b) Give each Patrol a large sheet of paper and ask them to design a model village,
see example - village.pdf town or city. Remind them to think about the facilities which people need for instance shopping, transport, - recreation, worship, schooling, and employment.

Each Patrol can then present its model to the Troop.

• Have the Scouts thought about providing facilities for the different age groups in the community?
• Are there facilities for young people of different backgrounds to mix together?

 

 

A town planner, architect, district councilor or religious leader may like to hear the Scouts views on their ideal village, town or city and would be able to provide valuable input.

2. What's the Connection?
Many of the actions we take have a knock-on effect on the environment. This activity helps Scouts explore 'connections'. Write the statement 'what's the connection' on the front of a long envelope.

Copy the stages stages.pdf onto strips of paper and put each individual strip in the envelope and seal it. Make sure the order is jumbled. Give each Patrol an envelope and invite them to make the connection. If they cannot find the links they can open the envelope and arrange the stages in order. Challenge them to make up their own which they can try out on another Patrol.