The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) has become a patron sponsor of the International Year of Light 2015 (IYL 2015), an initiative led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). IALD will help IYL 2015 organisers focus global attention on light in the built environment.
"Most people experience light and lighting in the built environment,” said IALD president Barbara Horton. “The International Year of Light 2015 offers a terrific opportunity to help draw public attention to the impacts of light on human comfort, productivity and wellbeing.
"Lighting designers combine best practices in design with the most current technology to simultaneously improve quality of life and reduce the negative environmental impact of our work. IYL 2015 will provide a framework for lighting organisations around the world to build public and policy-maker understanding of the role that light and lighting play in daily life.”
Dr Maciej Nalecz, director of the International Basic Sciences Program at UNESCO HQ in Paris, France, added: “UNESCO is very keen to engage with those who design the built environment as partners in its activities in areas of sustainability and development. The IALD is a natural partner of the International Year of Light and we look forward to working with them during 2014 and 2015. IALD joins scientific and technical societies in dozens of nations to help focus attention on the profound interactions of light with human needs.”
"Lighting design is a profession with special qualities, knowledge and expertise that gives its practitioners a unique field of work not incorporated in any other profession,” Horton continued. “Lighting designers combine scientific skills, design skills and their unique vision to optimise the impact of light on humans, the economy and the environment in each project.”
The IALD will celebrate IYL throughout 2015 with its existing worldwide programme of activities, including hosting its portfolio of Enlighten conferences, taking part in planned activities organised by UNESCO, and lighting events on a local and regional level.
The IALD also plans to use the public awareness created by IYL 2015 to work with lighting advocates to gain more attention from policy makers. The built environment’s inclusion in IYL can draw international attention toward current lighting-related issues, such as the health effects of light and the economic impacts of better quality lighting.
