UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova will award the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of science to Erik Jacquemyn (Belgium) in a ceremony to be held on 7 November during the World Science Forum in Jordan (at the King Hussein Bin Talal Conference Centre on the shore of the Dead Sea, 7 to 11 November).
An independent jury selected Erik Jacquemyn in recognition of his commitment to disseminate knowledge about the sciences among the general public. He is an expert in scientific communication, science centres, science museums and interactive museums.
Mr Jacquemyn holds a degree in electro-mechanical engineering. He became a science and technology advisor to the Minister-President of the Flemish Government in 1985. Since the early 1990s, he has launched numerous science communication initiatives, notably the Flemish Science Week, the Science Festival and a number of science contests. He also initiated Technopolis, the Flemish Science Centre he directed since its opening in 2000 until 2016.
Mr Jacquemyn has taken part in several international cooperation projects and notably chaired the International Programme Committee of the 1st Science Centre World Summit, held in Mechelen, Belgium, in 2014.
The UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science was created by UNESCO in 1951 thanks to a donation by Patnaik Bijoyanand, Founding President of the Kalinga Foundation Trust of India. Awarded every two years, it includes a $20,000 prize, a diploma and the UNESCO Albert Einstein Medal. The purpose of the Prize is to reward outstanding contributions in communicating science or technology to society.
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Media contact: Agnès Bardon, UNESCO Media Section, +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64, a.bardon@unesco.org