International Year of Chemistry: Our Celebration - ACS Symposium

Chapter 6

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International Year of Chemistry: Our Celebration Bryan R. Henry* University Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Guelph Ontario, Canada N1G 4B5 *E-mail: [email protected].

International Year of Chemistry (IYC) originated within the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) but many organizations contributed to its success. In this short paper, I will summarize the events that led to IYC, describe the launch and give a brief overview of the myriad of activities. Finally I will try to analyze the legacy of this remarkable event.

Introduction IYC 2011 was arguably one of the the most exciting and important achievements of IUPAC (The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) that had occurred in many years. This paper is a very condensed version of an IUPAC task force entitled “Description and Analysis of IYC Activities (project # 2012-009-1-020). The members of the task force and a description of the project can be found at the URL in reference 1 (1). The final version of the full report was prepared by Julia Hasler, John Malin, and myself with the assistance of Fabienne Meyers (IUPAC Secretariat) and Chris Brouwer (PUBSimple) (1). On a personal note, as President of IUPAC in 2006 and 2007, I have been associated with IYC from beginning to end. It was a tremendous privilege to watch the year unfold and to participate in this celebration.

Genesis of IYC Since all known matter is composed of the chemical elements or of compounds made from those elements, humankind’s understanding of the material nature of our world is grounded in our knowledge of chemistry. Indeed all living processes © 2015 American Chemical Society Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


are controlled by chemical reactions. IUPAC and UNESCO strongly believed that it was time to celebrate the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. The idea of holding a year of chemistry was first discussed in 2006, during the April meeting of the IUPAC Executive Committee. IUPAC Endorsement occurred in August 2007. In order to obtain an international year a motion must be passed on the floor of the UN General Assembly. IUPAC had no direct interactions with the UN and so we sought the help of UNESCO. UNESCO support for IYC was obtained in April 2008. They guided the motion through the UN. 24 Member States, led by Ethiopia, co-sponsored the proposal for the UN proclamation of 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry and it was passed in December 2008. The objectives of the International Year were: • • • •

Increase the public appreciation and understanding of chemistry in meeting world needs Encourage interest of young people in chemistry Generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry Celebrate the role of women in chemistry. (2011 was the 100th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Marie Curie and of the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies).

Launch Events There were a number of IYC launch events. Some notable examples were: United Kingdom IYC activities were launched at the Houses of Parliament, with the Federation of African Societies of Chemistry. The President of the Federation of African Chemistry Societies, Professor Temechegn Engida spoke to dozens of parliamentarians, including UK Science Minister David Willetts. Germany A marvelous opening ceremony was organized by several chemistry organizations, including GDCh, on February 9th in Germany. The opening speech was given by Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel. Brazil The opening event to celebrate the IYC in Brazil was held on March 23 at the Brazilian Academy of Science, Rio de Janeiro. It was attended by Brazilian government authorities in science and education, academics, representative associations, and the chemical industries. 68 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

Australia The IYC 2011 Launch was held at Parliament House, Canberra, in February, and was opened by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, the Hon. Senator Kim Carr. The chemistry and art subproject involved the periodic table and the engagement of school students. It’s estimated that over 100,000 people saw the tables during 2011.


South Africa The initiation of IYC was celebrated at the January Congress of the South African Chemical Institute and the Federation of African Societies of Chemistry. The official opening ceremony took place under the aegis of the UN, UNESCO, and IUPAC from January 27 to 28, 2011 in Paris, France. Nicole Moreau, IUPAC President in 2010 and 2011, was instrumental in planning this event. The theme was “Chemistry and the UN Millennium Goals”. The two-day event, which attracted 1100 participants, included an official opening by UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova. Puerto Rico There were two other Cornerstone Events organized by IUPAC. The IUPAC World Congress: “Chemistry Bridging Innovation among the Americas and the World” was held from Jul 30 to Aug 7, 2011 in San Juan Belgium The closing event was held on Dec 1, 2011 in Brussels. It was sponsored by the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The event was opened with remarks by HRH Prince Phillipe of Belgium. The closing was forward looking. A group of young leaders gave their expectation of the world in 2050, and in particular the role chemical science would play in helping us to build a better world (2). The IUPAC IYC website was designed and maintained largely through the efforts of Fabienne Meyers at the IUPAC Secretariat. It included more than 9000 contacts and provided a stream of information about IYC activities. Chemists from around the world were encouraged to list their plans and share their ideas. There were videos, instructional materials, and a plethora of chemical activities to interest students and the general public. During the year 2011, there were more than 400,000 unique visitors and 1.7 million page views.

Contributions from Chemical Societies and other Partners Although IYC originated within IUPAC, many organizations contributed to its success. There were notable contributions from the United Nations and from regional chemistry organizations like FACS, FASC, FLAQ, and EuCheMS. Industry, NGOs, educational and research Institutions, and individuals also played important roles. However the key organizations that carried out IYC 69 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


activities were the national chemical societies. They reached out to a variety of audiences, especially young people and the general public. The scope, originality and sheer number of activities are extremely impressive and impossible to summarize. The members of the task force solicited information from individual countries concerning their IYC activities. Over four megabytes of information was returned. The bulk of the IUPAC Task Force report on IYC is a summary of data the Task Force collected from the various countries (1). Any statistical summary of the breadth and number of IYC activities is bound to underestimate what actually occurred. Some sense of the overwhelming success of IYC can be drawn from IYC website statistics published early in 2012. Over 1400 activities and 1000 special events in 100 countries were noted. Many activities never reached the website. This was particularly true in the United States where much of the activity took place in local ACS sections. In this paper I have attempted to summarize a very small number of the IYC activities. In Brazil there was a massive response to IYC with very generous funding from the Brazilian government. A number of countries had design competitions aimed at young people. For example in Bulgaria there was a global chemistry stamp competition. The winner in the 12 to 14 age group was Vasilena Vasileva A reproduction of her very attractive stamp design can be found in our report (1). A number of countries issued postage stamps in honor of IYC. In Canada, Canada Post released a stamp on October 3, 2011 in honour of IYC, featuring Nobel laureate John Polanyi and his contributions to chemistry. The stamp was unveiled at an event held at the University of Toronto. Canada had a wide range of activities celebrating IYC. Table 1 provides a summary of the events and the numbers reached. Events were held for the general public in Helsinki, Finland, including a soap bubble competition. In Lebanon, in celebration of IYC2011, the Department of Chemistry at the American University of Beirut organized a seminar by Visiting Scholar Prof. Mostafa El-Sayed entitled: “Nanotechnology: Confinement of Material Size to the Nano-Scale; New Properties and Some Potential Applications in Material Science and in Cancer-Medicine.” In the Philippines, many IYC events were aimed at children, including an on the spot poster making contest. One of my favorite IYC quotes came from the Philippines. Roughly paraphrased, the quote stated: It is not expensive experiments that matter, it is the inculcation in the minds of the young of the love for science. That sentiment epitomizes what IYC tried to accomplish. One of the most interesting IYC activities in Kenya involved Dr. Solomon Derese, a Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. During December 13 to 17, 2010, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. While at Uhuru peak (the highest peak in Africa) he displayed a small banner that read "Chemistry our life, our future IYC 2011”. Sri Lanka had many activities. From the very large number I have selected two that demonstrate the emphasis on outreach. CHEMEX 2011 was inaugurated on the 27th April 2011 by the Hon. Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs as part of IYC . It has been estimated that around 200,000 people consisting of school children, university students, businessmen, industrialists, academics and the general public visited CHEMEX 2011. The Australian 70 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

National Chemistry Quiz program examination was held in various parts of the country. 15,463 students from 140 schools from both the Junior Division (Year 11) and the Senior Division (Year12) participated in the examination.


Table 1. A Summary of Outreach Events for the International Year of Chemistry in Canada Initiative

Public Reached 10,000

Science Rendezvous IYC on Jeopardy

9,000,000

Globe & Mail Ad

325,000 1,500

Joe Schwarcz Tours Pierre Beaumier Tours

600

Olympiad

160 10,000

Hill Times Ad YouTube Contest

5,000

Facebook/Social Media

1,000

Local Section Events

1,000 10,000

Daily Planet

750

Global Water Experiment Commemorative Stamp

2,000

YTV

5,000

TOTAL 2011:

~9,376,000*

*

Please note that this number reflects the quoted viewership of Jeopardy!, which is a syndicated program. The number of Canadians who viewed the program would be much lower (estimate 750,000). Furthermore, the circulation of newspapers gives the maximum number of impressions the advertisements could have made and is not indicative of how many people took in the ad. The total estimate is 1,010,000 to 1,110,000 for all of 2011. Remove Jeopardy! and the Globe and Mail ad, and one obtains a conservative estimate of 50,000 to 100,000 people directly reached or involved.

China had an extraordinary event. The following link is to a musical performance by a Chinese Orchestra with vocal accompaniment entitled "Chemistry is you, chemistry is me" with lyrics by Qifeng Zhou (IUPAC Bureau Member), translation by Nigel Osborne and music composed by Dongqing Fang (http://baidu.56.com/kan/Sd7z/S8oi). 71 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.


Sweden produced a chemistry calendar which was a series of 12 short videos produced during the International Year of Chemistry 2011, one for each month of the year. They show how chemistry plays an important role in everyday life and point to the future by highlighting ongoing research. The videos combine scientific content with humor, adventure and action and appeal to adults and kids of all ages. Thailand was another country with very many IYC events. There was an IUPAC Conference under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn. The National Science Weeks activities included chemistry and were organized by the National Science Museum and the Ministry of Science and Technology. Audiences numbered around 20,000 to 40,000 every day. Children Day in Chemistry Laboratory was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology. They opened their chemistry laboratory for children on January 26, 2011 and about 4,000 people visited. There was three day chemistry training in 14,000 schools with audiences of about 50,000. A display on Marie Curie at the National Science Museum attracted audiences of more than 10,000. The United States response to IYC was massive. All I will do here is to provide a summary with examples of major events. Much of the activity took place in local ACS Sections. ACS’s IYC efforts were led by its International Activities Committee, Committee on Community Activities, Society Committee on Education, Local Section Activities Committee, and Divisional Activities Committee. ACS obtained a $1.1 Million NSF Grant but in addition a very large amount of staff time and effort went into IYC activities. An extensive report on these activities was prepared by Liezl Perez and Terri Taylor (3) and this summary is adapted from that report. ACS IYC Partner Program arranged for other organizations to partner with them on IYC, such as the National Science Teachers Association. ACS Technical Divisions had programs to celebrate IYC at various meetings. Local sections did the global water experiment during National Chemistry Week. Pennies for PUR™ Water collected money to provide water packets for developing countries. ACS Saudi Chapter held an IYC Celebration in their country. A personal favorite for me was the Chemists Can Dance event held at the Spring and Fall National Meetings. Kids Discover magazine had one issue devoted to chemistry & IYC. A monthly email bulletin was put out by the International Activities Committee and highlighted IYC activities both national and international. There was an IYC Virtual Journal with four themes: Health, Energy, Materials and Environment. Chemistry 365 was an on line calendar featuring various items of interest to Chemistry including discoveries, famous chemists, chemistry of everyday materials, etc. The Madam Curie Display was an extensive collection shown at various meetings, such as National Meetings, and the Puerto Rico IUPAC Congress. Chemical & Engineering News had several general promotions of IYC. Finally the US Senate passed the following resolution designating 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry. Senate Resolution 283 “recognizes the achievements made in the field of chemistry and the contributions of those achievements to the well-being of humankind and recognizes chemistry’s ability to provide solutions that successfully address global challenges involving safe food and water, alternate sources of energy, improved health and a healthy and sustainable environment.” 72 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

A central event deserves special mention. Water – A Chemical Solution was a global experiment that was a signature/flagship IYC-2011 activity initiated and sponsored by IUPAC and UNESCO. It involved children and teachers in many different countries around the world. Aside from interesting children in Chemistry, it emphasized that water is essential to life and that provision of pure water is one of the greatest ongoing contributions of chemistry to human well-being.


Legacy of IYC A final section of the task force report (1) looked at the legacy of IYC. Many more countries participated in IYC than those that are full IUPAC members. The IYC experience presents an opportunity for IUPAC to involve these countries in IUPAC activities. Moreover the 2011 activities and the Task Force report will help IUPAC in planning for its Centenary in 2019. For chemical societies there is an opportunity to build on the involvement of young people in various programs by continuing some programs and introducing others. Important interactions with industry occurred during IYC. Industry support was a key component. There is a real opportunity to continue such cooperation. At times, national chemistry organizations directly interacted with governments around IYC and we need to build on these successes. And finally IUPAC, UNESCO and chemical Societies from around the world interacted during IYC. We need to take advantage of these interactions in building future cooperation.

References 1. 2.

3.

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC); www.iupac.org/project/2012-009-1-020 (accessed January 12, 2015). Chemistry International, May−June 2012, pp 4−9; www.iupac.org/ publications/ci/2012/3403/1_chemistry2050.html (accessed January 12, 2015). American Chemical Society. International Year of Chemistry 2011: Activities Report of the American Chemical Society; http://portal.acs.org/ portal/PublicWebSite/global/iyc2011/CNBP_031241 (accessed January 12, 2015).

73 Cheng et al.; Jobs, Collaborations, and Women Leaders in the Global Chemistry Enterprise ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2015.

International Year of Chemistry: Our Celebration - ACS Symposium

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