YOTA is a quickly growing group of young radio amateurs from IARU Region 1. It is our goal to get more young people interested in amateur radio and grow the amateur radio community. Every summer around 80 youngsters meet up in a different IARU Region 1 country every year for a week of exchanging ideas and experiences. At the summer camp youngsters learn how to organise youth activities in their own countries, for example presentations at schools, smaller camps for youngsters and more. All to get more young people fascinated by amateur radio. During the year youngsters organise a number of sub-regional camps for a smaller number of youngsters, also those who do not have a license yet. There are also young contest teams, special callsigns, and lots of other activities.

The goal of YOTA is to welcome new and young amateur radio operators to our beautiful hobby. We live in a world where communication is being digitalised in a way that we almost can’t keep up with. In times like this it’s important to convince people about the importance of our hobby. Together with other youngsters all around the world, we can make the difference and give our hobby the future it deserves! YOTA is creating the next generation of amateur radio enthusiasts, bringing new energy into the hobby.

Recently 80 youngsters from 27 teams in IARU R1 met in Bankya near Sofia in Bulgaria for the 8th edition of the Youngsters On The Air summer camp. It was a wonderful week full of diverse activities concentrated both on practical and theoretical knowledge, but also many fun activities. We explored different cultures and shared the hobby that always brings us closer together. This year we also dedicated a lot of time to a new IARU project called “Train-The-Trainer” which teaches youngsters to get more young people interested in amateur radio. If you’re interested in the future of amateur radio you can catch up with the latest news here!