INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SOUND
2020-2021
Education and Outreach on Sound for Society and the World
Culture – Creativity – Nature – Health – Science – Technology
Development – Education – History
Outcome of the UNESCO Charter of Soundwww.sound 2020.org
Newsletter August 2020
This Newsletter provides a report on the first 6 months of theInternational Year of Sound and an overview of the actions into thefuture.
1. Background
The International Commission for Acoustics declared the Year 2020 as theInternational Year of Sound (IYS 2020). The IYS 2020 has a structure
similar to that of an International year sponsored by UNESCO but in manyways is more diversified and reactive which has been shown to be ofgreat advantage in coping with the conditions brought upon us by the2020 pandemic. The primary structure includes initiation of events,activities and resources centrally by the IYS 2020 steering committee,
regionally and nationally by the ICA members Societies and relatedorganisations
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The IYS is a global initiative to highlight the importance of sound in all
aspects of life on earth and an understanding of sound-related issues atthe international level. It is endorsed by the three International
Organizations, the ICA is affiliated to: International Science Council,
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and the International
Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. The IYS followed naturally as
an important contribution to the UNESCO Charter of Sound. This charter
was largely achieved by the UNESCO Week of Sound (La Semaine du Son- LSdS), which is a partner with the ICA in this celebration.
The organisation structure for the IYS is:

Liaison Committee to coordinate the IYS 2020 comprising Michael
Taroudakis (ICA) Marion Burgess (ICA) and Jean-Dominique Polack(ICA and LSdS), Christian Hugonnet (LSdS) and Nicolas Lounis(LSdS).
Steering Committee comprising regional representatives toencourage and promote events/activities meeting the mission of theIYS.
Coordinating Committee comprising representatives of national ICA
Member Societies and International Affiliates responsible for
ensuring that national activities are registered and that reports andsupplementary material are provided for a lasting legacy of the IYS.

2. Extension of the IYS 2020 to 2021.
The IYS 2020, came into existence at the opening in Paris on 31 January
2020. Soon after this opening it became clear that the impact of Covid-19
would curtail the outreach events that had been planned throughout theyear and around the globe. The approval for the extension of IYS 2020
into 2021 was granted by the ICA Board. Thus, the IYS will be a twoyears celebration: IYS 2020-2021 or IYS 2020+ Rather than completelychange the logo, it has been slightly amended to include the + at the end

3. Website
Thanks to the outstanding efforts of Mike Stinson the website,www.sound2020.org, continues to be fundamental to the IYS 2020. Hehas promptly updated, amended and followed up with many event
organisers for details. Without his continuous attention the web pagewould not have been the effective means of communication that it has

International Year of Sound 2020-2021. www.sound 2020.org Newsletter, August 2020. Page 2become. The home page provides the links to the event calendar(currently 109), the resources and special projects (currently 36), thestudent competition plus news and reports.
It not only provides
information but also stores reports for the future. Mike continues toadapt the site as circumstances change and to encourage stories andreports.

The figure below shows the site visitors from February through to midAugust. On average there are about 4000 unique visitors and almost
20,000 page views each month. This reflects the interest in the ICA
initiative for an International Year of Sound.

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Opening
The opening of the IYS 2020 on the evening of 31 January 2020 in theGrand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne was an outstanding success. The
efforts of Jean Dominique Polack in liaison with the Sorbonne wereessential for the success of this event. Representation from a range ofpremier international and national scientific organisations, coupled with
cultural performances provided a worthy event.
The report on theopening including photographs and a link to its video recording is athttps://sound2020.org/news/spectacular-opening-ceremony/. One photoof historic value is reproduced below and shows those who have guided
the IYS to fruition over almost a decade.

From Left: Sergio Luzzi, organiser of the student competition; Christian Hugonnet, President LSdS;
Michael Vorlander, Past Past Past President ICA; Marion Burgess, Past Past President ICA; MichaelTaroudakis, Past President ICA; Mark Hamilton, President ICA, Jean-Dominique Polack, Board
Member ICA.

4. Film
The video on the importance of sound in our world “Sounds of our Life”
was produced by Antonio Fischetti in time for the premier showing at theopening. The full 9 minute version is supplemented by a shorter 2
minute version. Soon after the opening both versions were madeavailable freely from the website for downloading and in May were madeavailable from YouTube. Broader promotion will increase the utilisation ofInternational Year of Sound 2020-2021. www.sound 2020.org Newsletter, August 2020. Page 4

these two options. The film was sponsored by the I-INCE and is freely
available.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK-ApCMQNhY&t=8s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6HgT1iujwQ&t=2s

5. International Student Competition
The Student competition was first launched inlate 2019 and the deadline for submissions isthe end of 2020. The rules for the participationof individual students or group of students fromprimary and high schools have been posted in
the IYS 2020 web-site. The students of theprimary schools are asked to produce drawing
inspired by the motto of IYS 2020 “Importanceof Sound for Society and the World” and by themelody and refrain of the song “The Sound ofThe World”, which was the main subject forstudents of the high schools. These students
are asked to write a stanza of 4 verses (lines)
in mother tongue and/or in English, inspired by the melody and therefrain of the song “The Sound of The World” as well as by the motto of
IYS 2020 “Importance of Sound for Society and the World”
The enthusiasm and efforts of Sergio Luzzi and his team in Italy has beenoutstanding. Entries are coming in and there will be further promotions
via ICA member societies and the website. Sergio and his team have
prepared short video clips promoting the competition. These clips areavailable from https://sound2020.org/society/promotional/ . There has
been a particularly heart warming entry from non-vocal students from a
special school in Spain.
This Student Competition is being sponsored by the HEAD-GenuitFoundation.

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6. Competition organized by La Semaine du Son:
In conjunction with the International Year of Sound,the partner organisation, La Semaine du Son, haslaunched a competition for tertiary students “2068,MAKE PLACE FOR SOUND!”.
The aim of thiscompetition is to encourage students specializing inspacedesigntocollaboratewithstudents
specializing in sound by developing thoughts on thesound design of our living spaces, beyond thequestion of noise control, in order to imagine the soundscapes of tomorrow’s public places.
This competition is open for students ofarchitecture, urban planning, landscape, design, art, engineering, audioengineering, music, engineering, design, etc. The link to the LSdS
competition through the IYS web site ishttps://sound2020.org/society/student-competition/lsds/.
A further competition for students is to be launched by La Semaine duSon on the theme the “WHEN SOUND CREATES IMAGE” The students areprovided with a sound track composed by a well respected film scorecomposer and the challenge is to provide a video to complement themusic.
7. Events/Activities/Resources
The website has become the primary reference location for theevents/activities/resources. Mike Stinson has provided much care withthe entries to ensure that they meet the requirements of the IYS and has
adapted the website as needed to deal with those activities we had not
anticipated in the planning stages. There has been constant revisionneeded as restrictions due to Covid-19 led to the cancellation andpostponement of meetings. In recent months some events have changed
their format to e-conferences and others have unfortunately had to cancel
their special IYS associated activity.
However we continue to be amazed at the innovation and creativity toensure that the intent of the IYS continues during this challenging time.
Just a few examples show the diversity. The Wiki for Sound initiative
continues with on line workshops. A Linkedin group was set up forcollaboration on monitoring Soundscape under Covid-19. For international
Noise Awareness Day a global initiative of Hush City Soundwalks was set
up. A week in mid-June has been defined as BioAcustiamo Week, a citizen
science project to capture and archive a diverse range of sound the files.

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Helping the River Sing is a contribution from Australia to help re-frame
the discussion about the health of a waterway using sound. A virtual
immersive audio concert Recreating Notre-Dame Cathedral’s 850thanniversary performance of ‘La Vierge’. The Acoustical Society of America
has continued with its diverse program developing education material andpromoting the IYS 2020 through its publications.
It is noticeable that the IYS has also inspired other International
Organizations to support or promote activities or products related to theInternational Year of Sound. For instance the International Science
Council posted news related to a musical composition based on theprotein chain structures within the Covid-19 virus. This composition wasdevoted to the IYS 2020.
All of these projects are listed on the website and identified as an IYS
activity. Into the future this listing will provide a valued resource to truly
highlight the importance of sound in our world.
In addition to the communication by member organisations via theiremails, newsletters, journals etc, there have been various publications
and presentations in the media from the members of the IYS steeringcommittee. Some examples include the article on the motivation for theIYS and its continuation into 2021 by Marion Burgess and Michael
Taroudakis published under invitation in the 2020 Loudspeaker Industry
Sourcebook and a similar editorial in the Hearing Journal. The IYS also
featured in an article on ‘Sortir du bruit : penser notre environnement
sonore de demain’ and published in Le Monde and written by a group ofFrench academics and Marion Burgess.
8. Into the Future
Living with Covid 19 has changed so many aspects of our life but it has
also highlighted the importance of sound as we communicate with those
close to us, with those in our community and those around the world. We
plan to host an event in late 2021 that will highlight the achievements ofthe IYS. So we encourage all those involved with any aspect of sound tocontinue to plan outreach events/activities/resources that highlight theimportance of sound in our world and to post these to the IYS site. This
will ensure we have a record of the innovation and the success of IYS
2020-2021.

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9. Sponsors
While the main efforts for the International Year of Sound have been
voluntary by the members of the organising, liaison and steeringcommittees, the key activities would not have been held without thesupport of our sponsors and the non-financial support provided by peakinternational organisations. Additional sponsorship has been obtained forthe Opening Ceremony. These sponsors and supporting organizations
appear below. Additional sponsorship to support the celebration event at
the end of 2021 will be welcomed.

Founding Members

Silver Sponsor

SponsorSupporting Organisations(non financial)

Additional Sponsors for the Opening

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