09.03.2023

IChO 2023: Solutions Finders Hard at Work

While the Scientific Committee takes care of everything needed to guarantee a smooth running of the exams, the Organising Committee works on the many other things that are needed to host the International Chemistry Olympiad IChO 2023. There are a lot of complex but super interesting tasks that need a great deal of team work.

How can we get our theme “Finding Solutions” into IChO 2023? Silena and Maike coming up together with ideas for the IChO programme and the hospitality for our guests.Picture: IChO 2023

A good example of team work is how we came to our main theme “Finding Solutions”. In spring 2022, our team was looking for some kind of guideline for our IChO 2023, for something that should give the IChO some meaning and that helps us defining what we want to be. In an impromptu workshop our team discussed what we thought was important for us and how we perceived the IChO overall. After some wriggling, “Finding Solutions” was born. But what does it mean for us, what does it mean for the IChO 2023?

Our participants love chemistry. And we want to translate this passion into something meaningful. We want to explore how chemistry helps finding solutions for the many challenges we are facing today and in the future. And we want to show how this process of solution finding is usually a work of many people from many cultures and backgrounds – true team work.

The International Chemistry Olympiad will be hosted in Switzerland for the first time this summer. From 16 to 25 July 2023, around 300 young talents from over 90 countries will meet in Zurich. They will show their skills, make contacts and get to know the host country. In addition to the Swiss Chemistry Olympiad and Science Olympiad Switzerland, the organisers include ETH Zurich and the Swiss Chemical Society. www.icho2023.ch

One way we want to achieve this goal is through communication. Andrea, Luca and our dedicated communication team are producing interviews and portraits of young scientists talking about their passion for chemistry and how they want to make this planet a bit better for all of us. Our communication people will also inform you on our website, social media or in the Catalyzer newsletter about how our Organizing Committee tries to include “Finding Solutions” in our everyday work. Our team tries to come up with smart and sustainable solutions for the many challenges such an event poses on us. Do you want to know some examples?

Well, Silena (our master of fundraising and programme planning) is currently choosing the best transport options for us. This is quite a challenge, since we will be moving our 900 guests and volunteers around Zurich and Switzerland during the 10 day of IChO 2023. Silena’s smart and sustainable solutions will be the public transport, including our buses, tramways, trains, ships and cable cars about which Switzerland is quite proud of.

But that’s just one example. You’ll learn about more of them in our news. And you will see how our team works hard to make IChO 2023 a great and unforgettable experience for our guest.

Autor: Luca Ferrari, Communication Organizing Committee

Source: Solutions Finders Hard at Work (icho2023.ch)

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