IARU, Cham (Switzerland) (10 December 2025) *):
Closing of “Shaping the Future”
F4GKR explained the background for this agenda item. Many things that were put on the action list for Shaping the Future have been put on hold due to lack of volunteers to do the work. Only a few projects were started with very limited resourcing, involving EC members for driving the projects. As most of the team will not be able to stand for another term, it is required to take stock of the ongoing actions, statuses and possible way forward.
A status report, proposing how to move forward, will be put together for GC2026. To be discussed in the EC when a draft is available.
Action: F4GKR
This is the text of the meeting 10 Dec 2025 declaring the death of “Shaping the Future” initiative. This means no less than the intellectual bancruptcy of IARU. This was the last chance to rescue Amateur Radio from falling into oblivion.
Pro Memoria (iaru-r1.org/stf)
In October 2021 the Region 1 workshop for the future of amateur radio was organized online. About 50 countries and 100 participants joined the 5 days workshop and the 7 sessions. For many years there have been discussions about the ham radio situation: what will our hobby look like ten years from now? Can we still take advantage of the radio spectrum to experiment, learn, or simply have a good time chatting with our friends?
Comment (consult our detailed analysis on https://www.experimenters.ch/english/)
This decision marks the intellectual bankruptcy of IARU as an organisation, unable to reform itself and failing to adapt to the changing environment.
The initiator of Oct 2021 STF Workshop, IARU R1 president Don Beattie G3BJ said in his opening address at this workshop (https://www.experimenters.ch/wp-content/uploads/Don-Beattie-Address-1.mp4): The “amateur radio” that we often talk about today is quite often the “amateur radio” of the past (1:22). In short, I think we need a “relevant product” to offer to today’s generation (1:54). There is a real risk that we are walking towards extinction as the pressures on the spectrum increase (3:20). Member societies will need to take a hard look at their leadership teams, and decide whether that team has the commitment, energy and determination to carry their society forward (6:06). Change is always difficult. Leadership is particularly challenging when there is transformational change to achieve (8:58).
The Shaping the Future initiative wanted to make Amateur Radio RELEVANT again within ten years (until 2030).
The real reasons of the project’s total failure
1. IARU management teams fiercely oppose any progress, preferring “head in the sand”, totally ignoring the challenge.
2. our dramatically over-aged Member Societies and their management teams are beyond repair and face continuing decay and certain death
3. Dishonest behaviour, unfair management, lack of transparency by the global IARU team, clandestinely establishing a shadow covert IARU in Switzerland, without informing or asking Member Societies for their approval. Notably with new statutes, contradicting existing bylaws approved by Member Societies. The real purpose of this covert operation in Switzerland remains unknown to this date. Some speculations even tend to money laundering activities. IARU Administrative Council (AC) should have been sacked for betraying Member Societies. By not doing this, the member societies are complicit in the failure of this important initiative.
4. Change can not be achieved in a climate of dishonesty, dishonest or dumb people who sabotage progress based on egocentric behaviour and pursuing selfish goals that are not in the interest of Amateur Radio.
5. Fierce opposition and obstruction turned away many volunteers (including myself), many of them very qualified and motivated to accomplish the task of making Amateur Radio RELEVANT again. Very tragic.
Are there Member Societies who are aware of the urgent challenge ?
To anwer this question, you must have a look at their websites and publications/periodicals. What do they reflect ? Mere consumers, or developers/experimenters/makers ? Yes, there are periodicals worth reading. However, there are no communities anymore that could attract the younger, MINT interested generation.
Securing our frequency allocations, saveguarding our freedom of experimentation as well as protection against disturbances (EMC) can not credibly be done by organisations that are not relevant any more.
There are many smaller groups out there who share these interests with us, but they are often too small to be recognized as valuable discussion partner for national or international authorities such as Ofcoms, governmental bodies, emergency organisations, ITU and the like.
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*) Source:
EC+ meeting, Zoom, 10 December 2025.
In attendance: F4GKR, HB9JOE, SM6EAN, DJ3HW, OD5TE, IV3KKW, DF2OO, 9K2DB, F6BEE, 5B4AHZ, G0DUB, EA1JAY, G4SJH, Z32TO
Apologies: OE1MHZ, OM3BH, PA2LS
https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/EC-minutes-2025-12-10.pdf