We chart the journey to ESOF2012, from winning a bid process with Vienna in the running to marking the conference with a year-long celebration of science and Dublin’s accolade as the first City of Science
It takes creativity and innovation to change a recently-established event on the international conference calendar. As Ireland has a reputation as a creative and innovating nation, it’s no surprise it happened on our watch.
ESOF2012, taking place in Dublin, brims with innovation as the first Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) conference where the destination city gets the ‘City of Science’ badge.
ESOF is itself a spring chicken on the conference circuit, with the inaugural ESOF taking place in 2004.
Dublin the first ‘City of Science’
The City of Science accolade was originally proposed as part of the Dublin bid in 2008. It has since been adopted by the international community as part of the core branding for the event.
And, it has resulted in great interest internationally says Programme Director for ESOF2012, Dublin City of Science, David Fahy.
Activities will happen throughout the year instead of just around the time the conference takes place. They will also extend to the island of Ireland rather than just the host city.
Events to take place island wide
The main aim of these activities is to increase awareness of the contribution of science and research to the general public. However, other events will have a more international flavour: scientific conferences are taking place in Ireland in 2012 on the back of ESOF2012.
“Some of the events being planned have a significant international attraction; they are events that are not usually based here and delegates are coming here specifically for this.”
Committee’s unanimous decision
It’s four years now since a 10-person committee was unanimous in its decision to award ESOF2012 to Dublin.
It is worthwhile noting that Dublin’s main rival was a significant competitor: Vienna, Austria.
Fahy explains why it was a very significant and powerful rival for two reasons:
1) Vienna is an extremely popular conferencing destination.
2) Austria, and Vienna in particular, has a very strong science and research heritage.
Dublin wins out against Vienna
Dublin was as strong an opponent on both counts. And a little bit more.
1) Ireland is clearly a favourable destination for people
2) Ireland has a strong science heritage and credentials
3) Support from Irish influencers
“For major events like this the actual destination is a significant component of the decision making for people. Ireland the country and Dublin the city are significantly attractive destinations.”
Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism team had a strong role to play on the bid committee, on providing practical support. The team also fed into the destination elements of the bid document, highlighting the benefits of hosting ESOF2012 in Dublin.
Strong support from influencers
The depth of the support for ESOF2012 detailed in the bid document had a major factor in Dublin’s bid win, he adds.
“The overall bid patron was Mary Robinson [former President of Ireland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]. So you had people of that ilk right across the full spectrum of Irish business, academia, politics, policy and government [supporting it].”
Support from the international community is clear from having perhaps twice as much interest than other ESOFs from potential presenters, speakers and invited keynote speakers. Keynote speakers include Pulitzer prizewinners, Nobel Laureates as well as prominent Irish names including Bob Geldof.
Where Creativity and Great Science meet
One of ESOF’s over-arching themes is ‘science serving society’ and in particular looking at how science and research interact with the arts and culture. Dublin in particular has huge international credentials in the world of arts and culture as well as research, notes Fahy. “We’re exploiting that and promoting that opportunity. Our own tag line here is ESOF2012: Where Creativity and Great Science meet. Come to Dublin.”
In 2008, Dublin put a new twist on ESOF at bid stage which is being executed perfectly in 2011 and into 2012. “The team here is committed to setting a completely new standard for this event in terms of its size, in terms of its attendance and the scope of activities that will happen.”
There are more interesting developments in the pipeline for delegates including a conference app. Who knows how else the conference will evolve by the time July 2012 swings round?
Journey to ESOF2012
ESOF2012 has been five years in the making. Here’s a look at its timeline:
2004First ESOF is held in Stockholm with 1,800 delegates. The event takes place every two years thereafter.
2007Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government, Professor Patrick Cunningham becomes aware of the opportunities presented by ESOF.
Professor Cunningham takes a proposal to the Cabinet of the Irish Government that Dublin should bid to host the 2012 event.
The Government approves and commits support for the Irish bid to be prepared.
2008A bid committee with representatives from academia, industry, government, policy areas is formed.
Fáilte Ireland is actively involved in the bid process which has a submission deadline of 1 October 2008.
In November 2008 the honour of hosting ESOF2012 was awarded to Dublin by unanimous decision of the selection committee.
2012Dublin City of Science year-long festival of science takes place.
ESOF2012 runs 11-15 July with an expected 5,000 delegates making it the biggest general science conference in Europe.