International News
WORLD REFRIGERATION DAY
— EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
“There now are international or world days for just about
everything, some of them frivolous and some extremely
serious. If we take the positives from the successful ones, they
do serve to draw focus to and raise awareness of some very
important issues or causes that may otherwise struggle for
attention,” says Gill. “When I tell people about WRD for the
first time, they often smile, or sometimes even laugh, viewing
it as something flippant; not something that we engineers
want to get involved with, but once the penny drops, and the
potential of having a focused day like this dawns on them,
they become passionate and want to get involved.”
GLOBAL SUPPORT GROWING
T
he inaugural World Refrigeration Day (WRD) on 26 June
will soon be upon us. Here we reflect upon the journey to
reach this stage, why it is important to us as an industry, and
what to expect.
WHY HAVE A WRD?
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. Our industry is
often described as hidden and rarely attracts attention for the
right reasons. Often it is when something fails or, recently, for
its environmental impact.
This lack of awareness by those outside our industry often
leads to misunderstandings or simply blind dismissal of it. The
lack of appreciation and understanding leads to more than
just a mild frustration by those working within the sector; it
also affects career advice and representation to government,
among many other issues. It excludes us from so much.
The question of how we raise our profile has long troubled
industry leaders, with many good initiatives always underway.
But despite these valiant efforts, progress has been slow. WRD
is potentially different in that it 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.
The driving force behind establishing WRD has been
refrigeration consultant Steve Gill, who has been behind
several initiatives to support the industry.
12
RACA Journal I June 2019
The term ‘refrigeration’ is being used in its widest sense here,
meaning artificial cooling with removed heat being rejected
at a higher temperature. It is not restricted or tied to one type
of technology or application range, so it includes everything
from cryogenics to heat pumps, embracing the familiar
refrigeration and air conditioning. No part of the HVAC&R
industry is excluded.
WRD has been established with the consensus of industry
trade associations and professional membership bodies from
around the globe. Agreeing and fixing a date proved to be a
challenge with many alternative dates being proposed, but
consensus was finally reached as 26 June.
There is a lot you can do. Don’t let
this opportunity pass you by.
Be part of the global community.
Very quickly after it was announced, support was expressed
by many around the world. Within a few weeks, the number
of bodies and trade organisations announcing support had
reached more than 50. As the date gets closer, that number
has more than doubled and is close to being trebled.
Support is from all corners of the world. These organisations
range in size from those with just a few members, to those
with memberships in the hundreds of thousands. In very simple
numbers, support has been expressed from bodies representing
more than a million members.
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