Thanks to Jeremy Stone and Humphrey Jones of The Frog Blog, I’ve learned that Dublin will be the European City of Science (ECOS) in 2012. Recently, the organization Dublin City of Science 2012 (which is a separate entity from the European City of Science) publicized a call for public engagement projects to celebrate the event, from the April 27, 2011 posting at The Frog Blog,

By now everyone should know that Dublin will stand proud as the European City of Science next year and will host the Euroscience Open Forum in July of 2012. Now Dublin City of Science 2012 have announced they will compiling a year long programme of science events and are looking for ideas from the public and other bodies to fill that programme. They are looking for new and exciting ways to engage the public with the sciences, with events in all formats welcome.

You can go to this Calls for Proposals page to submit a proposal for an ECOS scientific proposal or a Dublin City of Science 2012 public engagement project. I have looked at the guidelines for both and, I’m sure this is just an unfortunate typo, from the ECOS 2012 guidelines,

A key highlight during the ESOF2012 Science programme will be the Global Partnership Symposia Series in which eminent scientists from Europe and partnering nations/continents will discuss in a symposium format four critical global scientific topics as follows;
o Europe & China (Science and the City of the Future);
o Europe & India (Our Nuclear Future);
o Europe & USA (The Atlantic: a Shared Resource);
o Europe & Africa (Science for Economic Development).

They did mean to include Canada, Mexico, Belize, and other countries that border the Atlantic, didn’t they? Perhaps in a subcategory titled, Europe & the Americas?

As for the call for public engagement programmes, here’s what the organizers are hoping to achieve (from those guidelines),

On behalf of Ireland, in July 2012 Dublin is privileged to host the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF 2012). Through ESOF 2012, a 5-day scientific conference, Dublin will become the gateway to science for Europe and the world. The event itself will bring together 6,000 scientists, business leaders, government officials and international media to discuss the best of European science and to address all of the major global challenges, including energy, climate change, food and health. While in honour of the event, we have declared Dublin as the European Capital of Science for that year, 2012 will celebrate the entire island of Ireland as a major world centre of excellence for science, technology and innovation.

A programme of events throughout Ireland will be compiled that will demonstrate the reach of science into almost every aspect of our lives – education, business, arts, sports, our communities, etc. It touches and shapes our past, our present and our future. Our programme seeks to demonstrate this and this is your chance to get involved.

I think having a City of Science year is a great idea. Congratulations Dublin! And for those who do not follow this blog religiously, I mention Ireland on a more than occasional basis because of its nanotechnology efforts. If I understand it rightly. the Irish are investing hugely in nanotech as a means of reinvigorating their economy. It’s a gutsy move given the country’s financial state and I’m observing the situation there with huge interest.