DIANA SLABU

Motivation & Vision

Candidate for European Scout Committee

National Organisation of the Romanian Scouts

Motivation

The main reason why I chose to be a candidate for the European Scout Committee is to do everything I can to ensure that Scouting in Europe continues to have a positive impact in the lives of as many children and young people as possible, as it has done in mine, by supporting Member Organisations in their growth.

Moreover, I feel aligned with the needs that have surfaced from the Member Organisations and also the world level, and I believe I can have a valuable contribution moving forward.

Motivation

The main reason why I chose to be a candidate for the European Scout Committee is to do everything I can to ensure that Scouting in Europe continues to have a positive impact in the lives of as many children and young people as possible, as it has done in mine, by supporting Member Organisations in their growth.

Moreover, I feel aligned with the needs that have surfaced from the Member Organisations and also the world level, and I believe I can have a valuable contribution moving forward.

I see the leadership of our region as having a crucial role in facilitating that growth through:

Careful, yet courageous decision-making
Clear and continuous communication
Inspiration that can keep the “fire of motivation burning”
The ability to connect the dots and build the necessary bridges for growth in the right directions.

Vision

I see the European Scout Region as a trustworthy network of strong organizations, that exponentially increase their impact in scouting & the society when they work together % support each other proactively and consistently.

Being a trustworthy network of organisations means not only building on the trust we have amongst each other because we are scouts and have common values, but also

Accepting our differences and believing we can always learn new things even from organisations that seem most different from us
Being curious about the organisational culture and practices of different NSOs and NSAs from our own region or from other regions
Supporting each other actively and publicly
Taking care of the trust that other stakeholders put in us and handling it with integrity.

A Culture of Trust

In a world where, in many structures, (corporate, governmental, NGOs) building a culture of trust in the inside structures and with external partners is an extremely challenging task, we have the major advantage of being raised, as scouts, from an early age, with common values, which is a solid foundation for mutual respect between individuals collaborating at all levels of the movement.

Our Assets

However, our common values are not enough in the face of adversity, war, social movements meant to isolate us and that feed on hate speech. Luckily, we have many more other tools in our bag that further help us build trust amongst ourselves and with other partners in society. Such tools are, for example, amazing leadership-building educational programmes, peace education, diversity and inclusion and youth empowerment embedded in our way of doing things and most importantly, a positive and constructive approach to the world.

Navigating Uncertainty

For these reasons, I believe that building on the idea of trust, unity and mutual respect as our guiding values in the following years can be a helpful compass when the sea is stormy and the direction for decision-making is unclear.