Tomorrow Starts With Chemistry
18 January 2012
Tomorrow starts with chemistry
Business leaders, academics, policymakers and students gathered at Palais des Académies in Brussels in November for Cefic’s flagship initiative for the International Year of Chemistry. “Tomorrow starts with chemistry”, hosted by Cefic President, Giorgio Squinzi, involved national federations and sector groups in a spectacular three-day package of events designed to awaken awareness of chemistry applications and celebrate chemistry’s role in solving some of tomorrow’s societal challenges.
The exhibition featured the spectacular Solar Impulse – the solar-powered plane – countless demonstrations and experiments such as the quick dry paint demonstration and 3D holograms of the mobility of the future. And winners were announced of the 2011 Xperimania Awards competition jointly organised by Cefic and European Schoolnet, which attracted entries from 65 schools in 16 EU countries. The winning schools were from Poland and Lithuania.
Other highlights included a one-day workshop jointly organised by Cefic and University of Liege HEC Management School, bringing together scientists, entrepreneurs and policy makers to discuss the governance of creative and innovative projects. Workshop sessions focused on “Innovation for Europe”, “Plastics shaping tomorrow’s mobility”, “From invention to innovation” and dealt with the challenges of open innovation, new concepts for transportation and lab-to-market breakthroughs. The three-day event concluded with a panel discussion on the contribution of women leaders, entrepreneurs and scientists in achieving the Europe 2020 vision. The panel was covered by the Financial Times newspaper in its ‘Women at the top’ blog.
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The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) is the worldwide voice of the chemical industry, a sector with 2009 turnover of more than €1,900 billion (excluding pharmaceuticals). ICCA members account for more than 60 percent of global chemical sales. The ICCA focuses on key issues for the chemical industry, and the promotion and coordination of Responsible Care® and safe chemicals management through the Global Product Strategy. Priority advocacy issues include chemicals management, regulatory affairs, and international climate negotiations.
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