IARU Region 1 seems be ahead of the pack when it comes to thinking about the future of amateur radio. Here’s a recent example from the IARU Region 1 website…
Facing the future of amateur radio
Mar 24, 2021
Lisa, PA2LS
Tonight IARU Region 1 started preparing together with its Member Societies a Workshop with focus on the future of amateur radio. The message being shared in this session is clear. IARU societies are losing members; loss in members in some societies is remarkable in the last ten years, even with good examination throughput. Next to this, persons in leadership roles in these societies are getting older. Not all Member Societies have top team members under the age of 35 years.
The IARU Region 1 Executive Committee shares that it’s time for change and we need to start moving forward. Working together and changing the current trends. We need to refocus our thinking and way of operating.
Main questions and topics which will be covered in the Workshop are:
- What is amateur radio today?
- How is it changing?
- Where are tomorrow’s radio amateurs?
- How do others see amateur radio?
- What do we need to do for the future?
Member societies are called upon to take actively part by nominating people with future oriented mind-set and prepare for this Workshop. Key will be to include new people into the discussion, hoping to reach new ideas and new ways of thinking. The Workshop “Facing the future” is scheduled to be held in October 2021 hopefully in Novi-Sad Serbia, hosted by SRS, the Serbian Amateur Radio Society. A virtual alternative Workshop will be prepared as well.
Sounds like it’s more a conference on the future of amateur radio organizations. Membership is declining, leadership is aging, and the number of licensees is increasing. The problem is organizations represent and serve their aging leadership, not new licensees. You want younger members? Start by removing leadership and representation hierarchies that were put in place to support the amateur radio of the 1950s, and stop acting liking a historical preservation society. I’m looking at you, ARRL.