Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France
French interreligious and coeducational Scouting and Guiding association.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France, commonly abbreviated EEdF, is a French interreligious and coeducational Scouting and Guiding association. It provides youth education through group activities, outdoor experiences, camps, collective projects, and progressive responsibility. Unlike organizations organized around a particular religious tradition, EEdF presents laïcité, or secular openness, as a central principle. Its model is intended to welcome members from different backgrounds while encouraging mutual understanding, participation, solidarity, and respect for the environment. The association’s roots reach back to the formation of interreligious Scouting organizations in France in 1911. The Éclaireurs de France were founded by Nicolas Benoit, while a separate organization, the Éclaireurs Français, was founded by Pierre de Coubertin. Guiding developed separately during the following years, with the first French Guide groups appearing in 1914 and the Fédération des Éclaireuses being established in 1921. Over time, the organizations moved toward closer cooperation through joint activities and national gatherings. In 1964, the Éclaireurs de France, the Éclaireurs Français, and the Fédération des Éclaireuses merged to create Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France. EEdF organizes its educational program around age-based sections. Younger children participate as lutins et lutines, generally from ages six to eight, followed by louveteaux et louvettes from approximately eight to eleven. The éclaireuses et éclaireurs section serves young people from about eleven to fifteen, while the aînés section is aimed at older teenagers from fifteen to eighteen. The Djaé section provides an 18-to-25 pathway, and adult responsables d’animation lead and support activities. The association’s program therefore combines child and youth participation with structured volunteer leadership and progressive development of autonomy. Five stated values shape the organization’s identity: laïcité; coeducation; democracy; openness and solidarity; and commitment to the environment. Coeducation is understood as bringing girls and boys together in shared groups and activities. Democratic practice emphasizes equal participation, rights and responsibilities, collective decision-making, and the assumption of responsibility for common projects. Environmental engagement connects outdoor education with practical efforts to understand and protect the natural world. The organization’s visual symbolism reflects this structure. The bow and arrow were adopted by the Éclaireurs de France in 1911, while the trefoil is associated with girls and women in the movement. Four colors—orange, green, red, and blue—represent the four principal youth age groups. EEdF also maintains a connection to the wider international Scouting and Guiding movement through Scoutisme Français. Through that federation it is affiliated with the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Historically, the association has operated at significant scale. The predecessor Éclaireurs de France reached approximately 50,000 Scouts in 1948, and the modern EEdF has been described as serving around 17,000 members of both sexes. Its work is primarily educational and associative rather than commercial: its core offering consists of membership, local group activities, training, camps, community participation, and youth development. The organization remains active in France, although detailed current information about its leadership, finances, and administrative headquarters is not established in the supplied reference material.
History
The history of Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France is rooted in the early development of interreligious Scouting and Guiding in France. In 1911, two interreligious Scouting bodies were established: the Éclaireurs de France, founded by Nicolas Benoit, and the Éclaireurs Français, founded by Pierre de Coubertin. These organizations helped establish a French form of Scouting that was not limited to a single faith tradition. The bow and arrow later associated with EEdF was selected as an emblem by the Éclaireurs de France during this founding period. Guiding developed soon afterward. The first French Guide groups appeared in 1914, and in 1921 they were coordinated through the Fédération des Éclaireuses. The Éclaireurs de France also developed age-based programming during the interwar period: its Cub Scout section began in 1921, and Rovering followed in 1926. In the 1930s, André Lefèvre, then chief of the Éclaireurs de France, created a training camp for approximately 60 Scoutmasters from across French Indochina, reflecting the movement’s involvement in the wider French colonial and international Scouting environment at that time. The Second World War was an important moment in the institutional history of French Scouting. In 1941, the Éclaireurs de France participated in the creation of the Fédération du Scoutisme Français, a federation that subsequently became the principal route through which several French associations connected with international Scouting and Guiding bodies. After the war, debates about the place of religion in Scouting produced organizational consequences. In 1947, some leaders departed from the Éclaireurs de France because of its strongly laïque orientation and established the Éclaireurs Neutres de France, which took a more positive position toward religion. Despite this division, the Éclaireurs de France reportedly reached about 50,000 Scouts in 1948. The Éclaireurs de France and the Fédération des Éclaireuses began a process of rapprochement in 1949. Cooperation included joint national jamborees and other shared activities. The Éclaireurs Français also became part of the eventual institutional realignment. In 1964, the Éclaireurs de France, the Éclaireurs Français, and the Fédération des Éclaireuses merged under the name Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France. This merger created the modern association and brought together the movement’s Scouting and Guiding traditions in a common, interreligious, and coeducational structure. Questions about the Scout Promise also formed part of the organization’s postwar history. EEdF was among the associations permitted to use an alternative promise associated with Robert Baden-Powell. This approach generated significant internal and external tensions during the 1950s. The eventual result was the introduction of a religious formula that Scouts and Guides could use, while that formula was not made an integral requirement of the general Scout Promise. The organization continued to evolve after its 1964 formation. In 1989, five local groups left EEdF and established the Fédération des Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs. EEdF nevertheless continued as a national French association organized around coeducation, secular openness, democratic participation, solidarity, and environmental commitment. Its current program uses several age sections, from children aged six through young adults aged twenty-five, alongside adult leaders. Through Scoutisme Français, the association remains connected to both the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
- 1989
Formation of a separate federation by departing local groups
[1]Five local groups left EEdF and formed the Fédération des Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs.
- 1964
Creation of Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs de France
[1]The Éclaireurs de France, Éclaireurs Français, and Fédération des Éclaireuses merged to form the modern EEdF.
- 1949
Formal rapprochement begins
[1]The Éclaireurs de France and Fédération des Éclaireuses began closer cooperation, including joint national jamborees.
- 1948
Predecessor movement reaches reported membership peak
[1]The Éclaireurs de France was reported to have approximately 50,000 Scouts.
- 1941
Participation in Fédération du Scoutisme Français
[1]The Éclaireurs de France became one of the founding members of the Fédération du Scoutisme Français.
- 1926
Rovering section introduced
[1]The Éclaireurs de France added Rovering, extending its program for older youth.
- 1921
Fédération des Éclaireuses established
[1]French Guiding groups formed the Fédération des Éclaireuses. The Éclaireurs de France also created its Cub Scout section during the same year.
- 1914
Early French Guiding groups emerge
[1]The first Guide groups associated with the French interreligious movement appeared, extending the movement beyond its original Scout organizations.
- 1911
Formation of early interreligious Scouting organizations
[1]The Éclaireurs de France was founded by Nicolas Benoit, while Pierre de Coubertin founded the separate Éclaireurs Français. These organizations formed important roots of the later EEdF.
Products and positioning
A secular, interreligious, coeducational youth-education movement that uses Scouting and Guiding methods to develop autonomy, democratic participation, solidarity, and environmental responsibility.
Early childhood Scouting and Guiding
Lutins et lutines
The youngest EEdF section serves children approximately six to eight years old. Activities introduce group life, imagination, outdoor discovery, cooperation, and simple forms of shared responsibility in an age-appropriate setting.
Cub Scouting and Guiding · 1921
Louveteaux et louvettes
This section is designed for children approximately eight to eleven years old. It develops social participation and practical skills through games, nature activities, group projects, and supervised exploration.
Scouting and Guiding
Éclaireuses et éclaireurs
Serving young people approximately eleven to fifteen, this is the association’s core Scout and Guide age group. Members take part in outdoor activities, camps, collective decision-making, and projects that build independence and responsibility.
Rover and senior youth program · 1926
Aînés
The aînés section supports teenagers approximately fifteen to eighteen years old. Its emphasis is on more advanced autonomy, collective projects, service, preparation for leadership, and continued engagement with the association’s social and environmental values.
Young adult program
Djaé
Djaé is the EEdF pathway for young adults approximately eighteen to twenty-five. It provides a bridge between youth participation and adult involvement, allowing members to continue collective projects and develop leadership or other forms of contribution.
Volunteer leadership
Responsables d’animation
Adult and older-youth leaders, generally from age seventeen upward, organize and supervise EEdF activities. This role supports program delivery, youth safeguarding, group life, camps, and the progressive educational method used across the association.
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