UNESCO: Presentation of the International Year of Light Report

The Final Report of the highly successful International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 will be presented during a special half-day event to be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, on Monday 3 October 2016.

The UNESCO-led International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 was one of the largest global science outreach projects ever undertaken. United by the interdisciplinary theme of light, the International Year of Light brought together a wide range of participants in 147 countries to carry out over 13000 events promoting themes of science, education, architecture, energy, art and culture.

The key objective of the International Year was to raise awareness of how light science and technology provide solutions to the many challenges facing the world today, and through the combined efforts of tens of thousands of volunteers worldwide, this message was communicated to a global audience of well over a hundred million.

The reporting event on Monday 3 October 2016 will take place from 10.00 am to 13.00 pm and will consist of an overview summarizing key facts and figures, short presentations from a selection of International Year partners and officially delivery by UNESCO.
The International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015) was a global initiative adopted by the United Nations to raise awareness of how optical technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health. With UNESCO as lead agency, IYL 2015 programs promoted improved public and political understanding of the central role of light in the modern world while also celebrating noteworthy anniversaries in 2015—from the first studies of optics 1,000 years ago to discoveries in optical communications that power the Internet today.