THE UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF GLASS-2022

Manoj K. Choudhary*, L. David Pye**, and Alicia Duran***

*The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

**Alfred University, Alfred, New York, USA

***Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio, Madrid, SPAIN

ABSTRACT

On May 18, 2021 the United Nations General Assembly formally approved a resolution declaring the year 2022 "The International Year of Glass". This is a seminal and celebratory moment for the global glass community. It is noteworthy that this is the first time that United Nations has accorded such a recognition to a specific material and represents an acknowledgment of the vital role glass has played and will continue to play in the advancement of human society. The UN resolution was the culmination of enormous efforts of many individuals and organizations from all over the world under the leadership of the International Glass Commission (ICG) president, Alicia Duran. The vision for the International Year of Glass originated with L. David Pye (ICG president, 1997-2000) in 2018. Under the chief editorship of Pye, the International Journal of Applied Glass Science published special issues on the themes of "Glass and Light" (to mark the 2015 UN International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies), and "Glass Age". This was followed by a series of presentations at several international forums during 2016-2018 by the then ICG President Manoj K. Choudhary and David Pye and to promote and rally support for the theme of "Glass Age". This paper provides background information on the UN resolution and discusses the scientific, technological, and economic significance of glass, a vitally important material for meeting the challenges of climate change and developing equitable and sustainable society. Also highlighted is the role glass has played in arts and advancing human civilization throughout the history and concludes with an outline of various events planned around the world to celebrate the year 2022 as the International Year of Glass.

INTRODUCTION

In this paper we describe the rationale, the history, and the massive international effort undertaken to have the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) approve the resolution to declare the year 2022 as the "International Year of Glass". We also describe the goals and the plans for celebration of all things glass in 2022.

Since 1959 the United Nations has declared several International Years to focus on particular topics, themes, or events. Usually it is one or more member states that propose these observances and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) establishes them by passing a resolution. The year 2015, for example, was the International Year of Light / Light-based Technologies. The International Journal of Applied Glass Science (IJAGS) marked this event by having a special issue devoted to the theme "Light and Glass" (Part I in September 2015, Part II in December 2015). There have been other UN International Years devoted to scientific themes (e.g., Physics -2015, Chemistry - 2011, Crystallography - 2014, and Periodic Table - 2019). The International Year of Glass in 2022 is the first such recognition accorded by UN to a material and represents an acknowledgment by the UN of the vital role glass has played and will continue to play in the advancement of human society. The global glass community should justifiably be proud of this honor.

GENESIS AND HISTORY OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF GLASS

The genesis for holding a UN sponsored International Year of Glass goes back to 2014 when Corning proposed the term "Arrival of Glass Age" to highlight the critical importance of glass in our lives. The same year, when David Pye learned that the UN General Assembly would declare 2015 an International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies he, as the then editor-in chief of IJAGS, arranged for the publication, as mentioned earlier" of a special issue "Glass and Light". The theme of "Glass Age" was also highlighted in a special issue of IJAGS (Part I in December 2016, and Part II in March 2017). Concurrently and extending into 2018, lectures by Manoj Choudhary and David Pye to international audiences explored the theme that glass science, engineering, and art were entering new and profound chapters in their histories. Those lectures sought to rally the global glass community behind the premise of "Glass Age". It is an interesting and important coincidence that, in 2018, the Atlantic Monthly published an article by Douglas Main1 in which he called glass "humankind's most important material", and noted that "without glass, the world would be unrecognizable".

Next, and also in 2018, David Pye floated the concept of an International Year of Glass (IYOG) with Charles Craig, Senior Vice President, Science and Technology, Corning Inc. Craig was strongly supportive and was joined soon after by Choudhary, who with Pye tabled a motion at an ICG Council meeting in Japan:

"The International Commission on Glass, representing organizations and individuals throughout the world dedicated to the promotion of science, technology, artistry, and application of glass enthusiastically endorses the exploration of a future declaration of a Year of Glass by the United Nations."

Following this positive reception, Pye presented the concept to the American Ceramic Society Board (ACerS) and the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG). Both embraced the idea and Steve Gibbs, a senior administrator at CMoG, played a pivotal role in advancing the idea to the international art community. The ICG, at its triennial Congress, held in Boston in 2019, formally agreed to pursue the declaration of the UN International Year of Glass in 2022 (IYOG22) under the leadership of president Duran. Spain's ambassador to UN, Honorable Agustín Santos Maraver agreed to lead the effort in UN. IYOG2022 also received endorsements from the Community of Glass Associations, and International Committee for Museums and Collection of Glass. The die was cast.

RATIONALE FOR 2022

The year 2022 was chosen because, as shown below, it coincides with several key anniversaries pertaining to glass.

• 670th : Earliest depiction of eyeglasses in a painting (frescoes of Tommaso da Modena in Treviso, Italy, 1352)
• 200th : Invention of Fresnel Glass Lens (used in seashore lighthouses; have prevented countless disasters)
• 100th : Discovery of ancient Egyptian Glass in King Tutankhamun's Tomb
• 100th : Founding of the German Society of Technology (DGG)
• 70th: Pilkington patent heralding float glass process that forever changed flat glass manufacture.
• 60th : Studio Glass Movement
• 45th : Anderson, Mott & Van Vleck's Nobel prize

ENDORSEMENTS

IYOG2022 has received enthusiastic endorsements from a wide range of entities. The numbers of endorsements given below tell their own story.

• 81 Countries, 5 Continents
• 443 Academic Institutions
• 230 Associations
• 594 Companies
• 298 Museums and artists
• 91 R&D Centers

IYOG2022 AND THE UN SUSTAINABILTY DEVELOPMENT GOALS

The principal strategy for getting the UN support for IYOG2022 was to demonstrate IYOG2022's alignment with many of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGS) for UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development2. The agenda was adopted by the world leaders in September 2015 and the goals came into force on January 1, 2016. The IYOG2022 mission, given below, explicitly shows its alignment with the UNSDGS.

".to pursue a United Nations International Year of Glass for 2022 which will underline the technological, scientific and economic importance of glass -.material underpinning many of our technologies and which can facilitate the development of more just and sustainable societies to meet the challenges of globalization."

Specifically, in our deliberations to the UN, we emphasized the alignment of IYOG2022 with 11 of the 17 UNSDGS goals. These included good health and wellbeing, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, industry, innovation, and infrastructure, sustainable cities and communities, and climate action. The alignment of the IYOG2022 with these 11 UNSDS goals summarized below.

UNSDG 3: Good health and wellbeing

Biocompatible and bioactive glasses can bond broken bones without rejection; treat deep, persistent wounds. Porous hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) can encapsulate fragile drugs but reject undesired biological agents. Chemically inert glass vials/ampoules, cartridges, syringes are crucial for vaccines, particularly in COVID. Chemically strengthened glass is a must for EpiPen® auto-injector cartridge used for treating severe allergic reactions.

UNSDG 4: Quality education

Education is at the heart of the International Commission on Glass (ICG), which links experts in science, technology, art, history and education. In the last decade ICG has organized 20+ schools in Europe, China, India, North America and South America. The book Teaching Glass Better celebrated 10 years of ICG Summer Schools,...