DivCHED CCCE: Committee on Computers in Chemical Education

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IYC2011 and Beyond – UNESCO’s Contribution

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) was designated as the lead UN agency for the International Year of Chemistry 2011. UNESCO, together with its partner, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), organized activities to highlight the vital  importance of Chemistry in our every-day lives, to encourage youth and the general public to appreciate the role of Chemistry in meeting international challenges, such as climate  change, water management and sustainable development, and lastly, to celebrate the contribution of women to chemistry, especially in the context of  the 100^th Anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Marie Sklodowska Curie.

Three cornerstone events marked the year: The Launch Ceremony in Paris, France, the World Chemistry Leadership Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico and finally the Closing Ceremony in Brussels, Belgium. Apart from these cornerstone events, there were numerous other events which contributed to IYC and had an immense impact for the community and/or country. IUPAC and UNESCO realised at the outset that for IYC to be a success and to have a global reach, each country had to be involved and create  their own events, ensuring national ownership and participation. Through this process many successful events were organized globally all of which made a contribution to achieving the goals of IYC.

This paper will highlight the key events of IYC2011 that were organised at UNESCO Headquarters and around the world and how they have contributed and/or will contribute to the follow-up of IYC2011. In view of the decreasing interest among the youth in chemistry and the basic sciences in general, it was imperative to make the teaching and learning of chemistry not only more attractive and exciting, but also fun. An amalgamation of scientific activities with hands-on experiments, activities linking chemistry to music and art, and striking media elements were incorporated into the planned events of this yearlong celebration. At the end of 2011, ninety-seven countries worldwide had registered about 1400 activities on the IYC website – proving that it was a truly international endeavour. Some of the events that will be discussed are Women Sharing a Chemical Moment in Time (18 January 2011),  the Launch Ceremony (27-28 January), the launch of the UNESCO-L’Oreal Prize “In the footsteps of Marie Curie” (28 February – 4 March) and the Malta V Conference (5-8 December).

The year 2011 began with the successful Launch Ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters on 27-28 January 2011 with around 900 participants on each day.  The meeting was opened by Ms. Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO and Prof Nicole Moreau, President of IUPAC and keynote presentations were made by 4 Nobel Prize Laureates (Prof Jean-Marie Lehn, Prof Ada Yonath, Prof Yuan Lee and Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri) as well as interventions by other high-level dignitaries representing governments, along with representatives from the private sector and academia. Throughout the Launch, different aspects of the role of responsible chemistry in fostering sustainable development, in responding to global challenges today and in tackling those of the future were discussed. The Launch Ceremony was a platform for the world to embrace the International Year of Chemistry and to actively participate by organising events in their countries.

Preceding the Launch Ceremony, on the 18 January 2011, women chemists gathered for a breakfast session to celebrate “Women Sharing a Chemical Moment in Time”. This event was initiated by Mary Garson, Professor at the School of chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Queensland, Australia, to bring women chemists together worldwide for a breakfast meeting on a selected day in 2011 on the inauguration of the International Year of Chemistry. In addition to networking, the aim was to celebrate the pivotal role of Marie Curie in chemistry. It connected women chemists from New Zealand to Hawaii using modern communication tools like Skype/video conferencing and Twitter.  Around 5000 women from 44 countries worldwide shared their passion for chemistry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onp3vkPANqs).

The UNESCO-L’Oreal For Women in Science Awards has been operative for the past 14 years. This award recognises the contribution and achievement of outstanding women scientists and supports the career growth of young women researchers. Since 1998 there have been 72 Laureates from 30 countries recognized for their effort and accomplishment and over 1200 young women researchers from 100 countries, received fellowships. In 2011 a new award category – “In the Footsteps of Marie Curie”, was introduced. This special fellowship is awarded to a former International Fellow, 10 years after she initially received her fellowship (in mid-career), who has demonstrated determination and excellence in her research area/endeavour. This award is associated with one of the goals of IYC – recognising women in chemistry (and science) through the achievements of Marie Curie.

The Malta V Conference “Frontiers of Chemical Sciences: Research and Education in the Middle East” was the last official event of the 2011 International Year of Chemistry (IYC) at UNESCO Headquarters. The Malta Conferences use science as a lever for development and as a bridge to peace in the Middle East by bringing together scientists from countries in this region with eminent scientists from industrialized countries, to work together to address key issues essential for fostering sustainable development and solidarity. They provide a forum through which mutual understanding between people from different traditions, religions, races and political systems may be strengthened, and regional peace and security promoted. The focus themes for the workshops of the Conference were: Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products; Environment: Air and Water Quality; Sustainability of Resources, Energy and Materials; Science Education at All Levels; and Nanotechnology and Material Science. The opening session featured addresses by the Director-General of UNESCO and by HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan. Other brief interventions were made by the President of the Malta Conferences Foundation, the President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society, and the President of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Five eminent scientists, Nobel Prize winners: Claude Cohen-Tannoudji (France), Nobel Prize in Physics, 1997; Richard Ernst (Switzerland), Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1991; Dudley Herschbach (USA), Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1986; Walter Kohn (USA), Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1998 and Jean-Marie Lehn (France), Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1987, were among the speakers.

Another event at UNESCO Headquarters that received much attention was the opening of the world premiere of Elżbieta Sikora's opera "Madame Curie", which celebrated the Polish Presidency of the European Council and the International Year of Chemistry and occurred in November. It was organised by the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Poland to UNESCO as well as the Natural Science Sector at UNESCO. This opera was presented within the framework of the International Year of Chemistry and highlighted the extraordinary achievements of Maria Sklodowska Curie on the 100th anniversary of her Nobel Prize in Chemistry award.

Some events were started during IYC2011 and are still ongoing. A typical example is the film “Chemistry: All about You”, a project of the European Petrochemical Association (EPCA), with UNESCO and IUPAC targeted at 16 – 20 year olds and which made a huge impact on youth. This film shows the importance of chemistry in our daily lives and explains how chemistry can sustainably contribute to safe drinking water, food production, development of textiles, health and health care, energy- and emission-friendly housing, transport, communication and education. At the same time it underlines the importance of women in chemistry on the occasion of the centennial of Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Marie Sklodowska Curie. The film is available in 14 languages and has been requested by many schools around the world. In continuing to promote the importance of chemistry after IYC2011, this film, together with the Global Water Experiment, is now part of the Chemistry Education series that EPCA runs together with the European Schoolnet in schools in Europe. These efforts are evidence that IYC served as an effective platform for many new ventures and projects in chemistry education.

The above events have all contributed to the goals of the International Year of Chemistry. Many distinguished chemists and scientists came together to celebrate the achievements of Chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. All the events that took place during IYC2011 are crucial for the follow-up which will help us to address the future challenges in Chemistry by taking into account the UN Millennium Development Goals and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).  UNESCO is committed to being a part of the solution for the future of Chemistry, together with IUPAC, and chemistry education is at the forefront of upcoming endeavours.