The OPCW has collaborated on an International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) project to update educational material for raising awareness of the multiple uses of chemicals and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Interactive materials were first produced in 2005-07 under an earlier IUPAC/OPCW project, but these have been substantially updated and revised under the recent project which has been led by Peter Mahaffy from the King’s Centre for Visualization in Science in Canada and Alastair Hay from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.
The comprehensive set of interactive web materials invites educators, students, policy makers, and the public to explore the beneficial uses, misuses, and abuses of multi-use chemicals. The resources can be used alone or in support of interactive presentations to build understanding about the responsibilities of both scientists and the public to respond to the misuse of chemicals, such as in the production of chemical weapons. The interactive web materials were created by the King’s Centre for Visualization in Science, working in cooperation with members of the OPCW Scientific Advisory Board and its Temporary Working Group on Education and Outreach in Science and Technology Relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The materials are available here.
The educational materials were piloted at a workshop during the 44th World Chemistry Congress in Istanbul in August 2013 and will also be demonstrated during the 15th Annual Meeting of CWC National Authorities in The Hague in late November 2013.
The project received financial support from IUPAC and from the European Union under its Council Decision of March 2012 in support of the OPCW. Further financial support is now being sought to translate the materials in all official languages of the OPCW.