EPCA provides numerous initiatives to ensure recruitment in the chemical industry

Brüssel, Belgien (ots) - The European Petrochemical Association
(EPCA) is stepping up its involvement in educational initiatives for
the natural sciences. EPCA is currently supporting three projects
intended to illustrate the high status of chemistry in everyday life.
The initiatives enable school students to take part in live chats
with experts in chemistry and offer teachers exclusive material
allowing them to adopt a more practically oriented and vivid approach
to the design of their lessons. A high-quality information film
supplements the educational programme. The aim of EPCA's involvement
is to inspire school students to take up the subject of chemistry and
encourage them to embark on a career within the sector. After all,
the industry is increasingly suffering from a shortage of qualified
new recruits.

"Chemistry plays an outstanding role in our daily lives. It
provides us with access to such fundamentals as drinking water, food,
clothes, healthcare and communication media. We urgently need more
well educated specialists so that we can safeguard all of this in the
future," says Tom Crotty, President of EPCA.

In lectures, panel discussions, seminars and workshops, this
year's Annual Meeting of the European Petrochemical Association will
also be dedicated to the topic of new recruits for the sector. Title
of the meeting: "Talent and Technology: Drivers of Innovation in the
Chemical Industry". This year more than 2,500 delegates representing
EPCA's member companies will be meeting from 6 to 10 October in
Budapest.

Educational initiatives with EPCA involvement

EPCA is actively involved as a partner in a number of initiatives
for the education of young people in the fields of chemistry and
natural sciences.

inGenious aims to promote the interest of young Europeans in the
natural sciences and improve the link between education and practice.
One of the initiative's projects is XPERIMANIA V called "TALK2US",
that EPCA and the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe
(APPE) have developed jointly. From October 2012 to May 2013, the two
associations are organizing several online chat sessions with
European schools. These sessions will enable school students from all
over Europe to find out more about the importance of petrochemicals
in everyday life, their sustainable development and career
opportunities within the chemical industry.

EPCA has renewed its successful partnership with European
Schoolnet (EUN) for a further three years. Back in 2011 EUN and EPCA
jointly developed tuition guidelines aimed at helping teachers to
integrate specific applications from the discipline into the school
curriculum. The guidelines provide young people with illustrations of
chemical processes and will be available in 12 countries and in 10
languages over the next couple of years.

In three and a half minutes, the film "Chemistry: All About You!"
uses impressive images and informative captions to show that
chemistry forms the foundation of everybody's daily life. In a
topical context, all children who take part in the "Kids' Marathon"
as part of the Budapest Marathon to be held in the Hungarian capital
on 7 October, will receive a copy of the film. EPCA - a sponsor of
the run - made and distributed the elaborately produced film in
collaboration with its partners last year.

Further information on this year's Annual Meeting of EPCA in
Budapest, on local press events and opportunities to take part is
available on request.

* * *

Links
- XPERIMANIA V "TALK2US" available at http://www.xperimania.net
- inGenious: http://www.ingenious-science.eu
- Tuition guidelines at European Schoolnet and information
film "Chemistry! All about You!":
http://chemistryallaboutyou.eun.org

About EPCA

The European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) is an aggregation
of over 660 petrochemical companies, their partners and
service providers worldwide. Founded in 1967 in Brussels, EPCA's
objective is to initiate, facilitate and promote ideas and
projects of interest to the petrochemical industry, worldwide. For
that, EPCA offers his members a unique global network, enabling
them to meet regularly, exchange information and experiences, and
to discuss the sustainable development of the petrochemical
industry.

Homepage: www.epca.eu
Blog: blog.epca.eu
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Pressekontakt:
Maria De Rycke
Communication Manager EPCA
Avenue de Tervueren 270
BE-1150 Brüssel
Tel.: +32(0)2 741 86 66
Fax: +32(0)2 741 86 80
E-Mail: maria.derycke@epca.eu