The XII International Congress of Camps and Summer Camps will be held this year for the first time in Spain from 4 to 8 October, PortAventura Convention Centre has been selected as the venue for this edition. After the international meeting of the congress organising committee and the virtual meetings we talked about in Work on ICC2023, the countdown to the big day begins.

The aim of the conference is to highlight educational leisure and socio-cultural activities as a driving tool for the promotion of children and young people. It will be a space for sharing and exchanging experiences and advice on camps, discovering new trends, presenting the culture and the way of organising leisure dynamics in the host country.

The international event, which takes place every three years on a global scale and brings together professionals from non-formal education and leisure time, arrives in Spain after holding its previous editions in Canada, the United States, Australia, Russia, Hong Kong, Mexico and Turkey, organised by the International Camping Fellowship (ICF).

International Camping Fellowship was born in 1987 as a worldwide association of camping professionals who share their knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to leisure education. The co-owner of our family business English Summer S.A. in Tarragona, Carolina Fleix, has been organising summer camps in English for over 40 years and is the ICF ambassador for Spain. She presented the country's candidacy for the 2023 congress, being part of the organising committee as host and president of the congress.

Congress presentations will include marketing strategies, promotions and effective business practices, as well as camp updates in the digital age. They will also address food and health services, infrastructure, legal issues and government relations.

On the other hand, they will address the organisation of the team and the target group, i.e. participants, staff and family members. They will discuss social justice issues, highlighting the importance of diversity, equity and educational inclusion, as well as intercultural awareness and special populations.

The conference will have a section for innovation and exchange of ideas and new programme activities. Speakers will share workshops on active and developmental programmes. They will showcase learning programme designs and practices. They will highlight global education, the relationship between recreation and education, school camps, after-school programmes, forest schools and outdoor education.

In addition, the International Camp Director's Course will be explained, and the management and scope of the research forums and presentations, as well as the Networking meetings of the ICF association will be assessed.

The programme of the XII International Camp Congress has more than 50 speakers and more than 500 participants, and is expected to be very well attended with the participation of more than 120 countries.  For this reason, the Congress Organising Committee invites all interested persons to contribute to the educational part of the programme. The deadlines for participating as speakers and presenting an educational experience or project, or attending the event, will remain open until 31 March, and you can reserve your place in the Registration section.

The whole event is organised thanks to the collaboration of unpaid volunteers who believe in the importance and power of camps and socio-cultural activities to contribute to the learning and practice of social participation, and thus help in the construction of children's identity. Therefore, the organising committee is grateful for the wide range of sponsorship support donations to ensure a successful congress. Those willing to do their bit should fill in the sponsorship form and choose between making direct financial contributions, being a designated sponsor of a particular event within the Congress, being a partner of the entire event or making in-kind donations to offset the high costs of the event.

It is an opportunity to present new challenges for educational leisure time and to promote a sector that is booming and preserves educational quality, networking and interdisciplinarity.