Summary of interviews with Norway and Turkey.
During December we had made interviews with two participants, Nuri from the Turkish Orienteering Federation and Lene from the Norwegian Orienteering Federation. Both of them are working with WOD as a part of their employment at respective National Federation. Norway had a dedicated budget for WOD, unlike Turkey.
Norway and Turkey where the two countries that had most participants during 2017 and also had the biggest positive difference from 2016 to 2017. Both countries had support from respective national federations. In Turkey they also had support from the Ministry of Education and in Norway
In Norway WOD is part of the strategy of spreading orienteering to new people. The national contact for WOD in Norway works with information dissemination and marketing of orienteering to clubs and schools all around Norway.
In Turkey, it has been established that WOD is a way to increase the number of active orienteers around the country and therefore they are actively working with WOD.
Norway had local contacts at schools, while Turkey had representatives from different districts. In Turkey a local guide regarding broadcasting afterwards, when the event was completed, was made after request.
In Norway the schools needed most help with maps and sometimes the organization for the event. In Turkey, the Ministry of Education has urged and encouraged municipalities and schools to be involved and active.
Neither Turkey nor Norway has worked so much with sponsorship or partners, but the Turkish Orienteering Association was given the assistance of sponsors to obtain the diplomas for all who participated.
In Norway they received some prices from sponsors that they could use at events.
The work towards WOD 2017 started in January in Norway. In Turkey, the preparations began in March, and March and April were the most hectic months. Generally, both countries had many small events all around the country.
In both countries, there has been a strong commitment locally, but also strong support from federations and other central units. This has been shown to be important for how well WOD has been shown and marketed and, at the other end, given a successful WOD event.