EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
Inaugural World Refrigeration Day
a global hit!
By Ilana Koegelenberg
The first-ever ‘Coolest Day of the Year’ took place on 26 June around the world and the global
response was truly overwhelming, with an estimated 153 countries participating – even South Africa!
day finally arrived the response was
incredible! “The day was beyond
anyone’s expectations for a first year,”
he said. “It was probably beyond
anyone’s expectations for any year.
The level of interest was extraordinary
from all over the world. I can’t recall our
industry seeing anything like this before
on this scale. We believe that there were
physical events in at least 153 countries,”
he confirmed.
•
A WORLD-WIDE EVENT
A
ccording to the driving force
behind World Refrigeration Day
(WRD), refrigeration consultant
Steve Gill, the aim of WRD is to serve
as a means of raising awareness and
understanding of the significant role that
the industry and its technology play in
modern life and society. “WRD presents
an opportunity for all stakeholders to
work together to achieve the single aim
of raising awareness. It is something that
can and has united the global RAC
community.”
From the get-go, wherever he went,
Gill received a positive response to
the concept of WRD, and when the
According to Gill, they are still gathering
data and information to compile a
complete list of activities that took place
on the day. “I am still constantly being
surprised, delighted and impressed
in equal measures by some of the
remarkable ways that people and
organisations took the spirit of the day to
heart and used it to raise awareness and
understanding of the significant impact
that refrigeration, air-conditioning and
heat-pumps make to modern society,”
said Gill.
According to Gill, there are so many
examples of interest and successful events
that it is difficult to single out any without
missing several. Here are several…
• In Australia and the UK, two leading
retailers opened the plant room
•
•
doors so that members of the public
could take a look at the refrigeration
systems that are usually off limits. For
many, frozen and chilled food is one
of the most obvious daily contacts
with refrigeration, and yet generally
there is no appreciation of what is
happening behind the scenes at a
supermarket.
In India, there were events aimed at
raising awareness of the importance
of the cold chain as well as
sustainable cooling.
In Iran, there were special classes for
school children to introduce them to
the various ways that cooling impacts
their lives.
In the UK and the US, refrigeration
and air-conditioning contracting
companies had open-door days and
invited local schools in to introduce
them to the industry and the industry
career opportunities.
Even South Africa got involved in a small
way. We helped Gill put together official
WRD logos in Afrikaans as well as Zulu – a
feat everyone was most proud of. As
the word for ‘heat pump’ doesn’t exist
in Zulu, we had to call in some help from
plumbing lecturers to help us invent a new
word – very exciting!
The 26th happened to be day two of
the ‘Consultative Legislative Workshop
on the Kigali Amendment Towards HFC
Phase-Down’ and stakeholders got
together to pose with the Zulu logo. The
photo got shared far and wide around
the world on social media. (Read more
about this event on page 20.)
Hopefully next year we can get
the industry associations involved and
maybe even government, as to make a
big event!
A PART OF SOMETHING ‘SPECIAL’
Despite the sheer exhaustion after the
event – and the relief that it was a
success, Gill said that after the event,
there was really a sense that something
special had just happened. “As an
industry, we had taken part in something
like never before.”
The scale and reach of it had surprised
many. “Only a few hours before, to have
people like the World Bank, the UN and
the EU Commission tweeting about WRD
and our industry in a positive light was
unimaginable,” said Gill. “There was a
sense that something had changed; it
was as if the floodgates had opened to
let the industry tell its own message with
a louder voice than ever before. As far
as first years go, this has to be considered
one of the biggest successes!”
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS
South African stakeholders showing support for World Refrigeration Day, posing with the Zulu
logo on 26 June.
32
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
The plan for the first year was simply to
establish WRD in the diary and to gain
support from national trade associations
and professional bodies. “Just establishing
WRD was a huge step,” says Gill. “Having
achieved this, I am really excited that we
can now build upon this foundation, and we
are working with our partners and sponsors
to unveil our plans for next year very shortly.
It is a community project, so gaining support
for our ideas is important to us.”
Next year, they will be aiming to extend
the approaches that they piloted this
year; reaching out to younger people
and their advisers and influencers through
either open days or directly going into
educational establishments. “This will
go hand-in-hand with the outreach to
local (and national) dignitaries to give
them a better understanding of what this
industry is about,” explains Gill. “We also
are planning to prepare tools that can
be used outside of the day so that the
campaign is not just for one day a year.
We want to make a real difference which
requires year-round activities.” CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA •
SEPTEMBER 2019