International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 (the Americas) is looking for a few young hams interested in helping to remake amateur radio for the 21st century.

“Frustrated that there are so few of your friends and age group that are interested in ham radio? Frustrated that amateur radio is in a rut, not doing more or different things with technology? Concerned that an aging demographic means ham radio is dying? And that our frequencies will be sold out to the highest bidder because there aren’t enough hams to show that we use them?” IARU Region 2 said in a March 3 solicitation. “So are we. And we want to do more than talk. We want to do something about it.”

According to the announcement, IARU Region 2 is looking for volunteers who would brainstorm ideas and possible actions to make amateur radio more attractive to a younger generation.

“We’re not looking for a single magic approach. After all, amateur radio means many things to many people. Rather we’re looking for possible ways to target specific interests that are either part of ham radio today or could be part of ham radio in the future to recruit and retain new amateurs,” the solicitation said. IARU Region 2 said it’s looking for radio amateurs between the ages of 18 and 35 who have been licensed for more than 1 year. Applicants must be self-starters willing to take initiative, exercise creativity, and volunteer their time.

Those interested should contact IARU Region 2 Secretary George Gorsline, VE3YV, telling why they are willing to volunteer, their current interests, and their thoughts on solutions. “Ideally, we would like to have as many parts of the Americas represented as possible,” IARU Region 2 said in its announcement.

“This is more than a think tank. We’re prepared to provide funding to try out some of the proposed ideas to see how well they work. We expect that some ideas will work, others won’t, and different things will work in different parts of the Americas — one size will not fit all. As part of the work, IARU R2 would propose to send one person to the IARU R1 YOTA youth camp to experience the camp, meet with the R1 youth coordinators to learn about what they are doing in Europe and Africa, to exchange ideas, and to explore what joint activities might be done.” — Thanks to Joaquin Solana, XE1R, IARU Region 2