News

We will let you know if there is any.

First meeting	2006-09-24
We have informed everyone who can participate about a proposed meeting on the 3rd of October in Utrecht. This in order to get to know eachother, meet one of the Finnish staff memebers and answer specific questions.

Current situation

2006-09-21

As of now we have reached the maximum number of participants. We didn't expect all the reactions to come in this fast.. Everyone who wanted to come after we had gotten to our maximum has been put on the reserve list. If you still would like to come along, we will put you on the reserve list. You can do this until the end of september when the enlisting closes. If someone decided to cancel the first runner up could come along. We apologize to all who were not able to get a place on the Arctic Winter Challenge.

Questions and application information

2006-09-17

The announcement of the Arctic Winter Challenge in the Dutch Scouting Magazines was a succes which didn't go unnoticed! So far we have had 7 serious reactions so there are still 2 places left! If you want to come along be quick!

We have an information update because we have had many people ask questions.

Q: Clothing and gear, what do we need to bring?
A: The scouts in Finland are currently making a list of what pieces of clothing you would need to survive. Besides this you will need a regular Dutch autumn or winter sleepingbag, we will be sleeping in a cottage. The gear used for activities will be arranged by the Finnish scouts, things like skies and snow shoes (tennis racket shaped things). As soon as we get the list we will post it here on the website.

Q: What will be the spoken language during the camp?
A: English, and hopefully in the end both Dutch and Finnish ;)

Q: Will the event continue even if there are five participants?
A: YES, we will have a great week, even if we cannot get enough participants. Just keep in mind that it will get more expensive because we cannot get any EU funding.

Q: Can I take my teddybear?
A: Of course you can, as long as you protect him well against the cold and take his skies along!

EU Funding information

2006-09-06

In order to be able to get funding from the European Union we will have to obey their rules. If we can get funding it will considerably save a LOT of money.
The EU demand the following:

50/50 nationality spread for a bi-lateral exchange, so 10 Dutch means 10 Finns
a minimum of 16 participants
participants cannot be older than 25 years
the program has to take at least 6 full days
the program has to be made by the participants
you must learn from each others culture, so you will also let the Finnish scouts experience the Dutch way of life

In order to achieve the goals we will have to form a Dutch and a Finnish group who will both work together in planning the activities. The program mentioned in the program section is an example of what we could do.

The tricky part is that we will want to know if you would want to come along even if there is no EU funding.

IF we get EU funding the finances might change drastically, you would only have to pay about 30% of your plane ticket, all the rest will be financed.

Dates	2006-08-15
The date on which the Arctic Winter Challenge is being organised are known! We will have the Challenge starting on Saturday 24th of February lasting until the 4th of March 2007.

EU Funding	2006-07-06
The European Union has a youth program which promotes bi- or multilateral exchanges. The Arctic Winter Challenge might fit into the demands to get funding. This depends on group size, total cost, age of the participants, days of program, type of program and so on. We are still looking in to the matter and when we know more, you'll know more!

News!	2006-06-30
This site is being made, as soon as it gets online we will announce the big news over here.