As presented on the other web pages under the “Shaping the Future” menu item, the working groups formed after the “Shaping the Future” workshop proposed different actions that were consolidated into six priority Scope Areas:
- Build a public relations programme to promote Amateur Radio.
The purpose of this public relations (PR) scope area is to create and maintain a positive image of amateur radio in the eyes of the public. This involves communicating the benefits and importance of amateur radio to various stakeholders, including potential amateur radio operators, the national amateur organisations, the media, and the general public. - Be recognized as useful to society.
We want amateur radio to be perceived as having a positive impact on the community. This can be done in a variety of ways and areas, for example by contributing to spread technical expertise or by providing technical support. There are many ways in which amateur radio can be recognized as useful to society, and by participating in activities that contribute to the well-being of their communities, amateur radio operators can help to raise the profile and reputation of the hobby. - Establish and maintain connections with other communities.
This is about collaboration inside the amateur radio community and with non-amateur radio communities, e.g. maker groups, technical institutes etc. It’s about strategies and tools to promote collaboration. - Training & self development for radio amateurs.
This is about training and personal development of radio amateurs to help to advance technical skills and knowledge. This can include both formal training programs, such as courses or workshops, and self-directed learning, such as studying for amateur radio licenses or exploring new areas of the hobby. Tools to support training & self development is included. Ways of finding and producing content should also be considered. - Broaden the technical focus of Amateur Radio: 21st century technologies.
This is about keeping amateur radio relevant and appealing for new and existing radio amateurs. By broadening the technical focus of amateur radio to include new technologies, the hobby can continue to grow and evolve. We need new tools and resources to help amateurs feel more confident and able to master new technologies. - Include Amateur Radio in public education.
Including amateur radio in public education curriculum — from elementary school to university — can be a valuable way to promote STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills, encourage teamwork and collaboration, provide hands-on learning opportunities, and encourage a sense of community and public service. This is about developing material that can be localized for our different national societies to make amateur radio appealing for education. This can involve adapting the material to suit local cultural and educational needs, and also working with local educators and organizations to incorporate amateur radio into the curriculum.
In addition to the Scope Areas, a few “supporting projects” were identified. These projects are horizontal and support the different Scope Areas.
- hamradio.org
This is about structure and development of a preferred global website for the amateur radio community and those interested in amateur radio. It includes coordination between all IARU regions. - IARU cooperation
This is about improving horizontal communication within IARU-R1 for the benefit of member societies. Some work is already ongoing but developing ways of sharing ideas and improvements has potential for many member societies.
How do we make it happen?
To make this happen, we are looking for volunteers to join us in moving “Shaping the Future of Amateur Radio” forward. It’s a lot, and we will need to prioritize to adjust the amount of parallel work. As described on the “Latest status” page, we now split the way forward in two phases, and we look for volunteers as described below:
Phase 2
Break-down of Scope Areas into projects. This is a short-term activity for persons that are interested in, or have some experience of, structuring work and defining projects.
Example:
- Scope Area: “Develop training and self-development initiatives for radio amateurs.” is divided into a number of projects:
- Project 1: “Learning management application (LMS) for Radio Amateurs”. The project scope is to find, adapt and roll out an application to support self-training.
- Project N: “Investigate existing training material”. Try to find good training material and find ways to include it into the LMS.
If you are interested to join the phase 2 work, please contact secretary@iaru-r1.org
Phase 3
Join us in working within different projects. This is hands-on work in many different areas, ranging from development, documentation, marketing & PR, project management, etc. The teams will be international, and you will make a lot of new friends. By joining a project team you are in the forefront of the programme Shaping the Future.
If you are interested but like to know more about phase 3, please contact secretary@iaru-r1.org
If you are interested to join the phase 3 work, please send in an application from the linked form.