Signify announced it will light up over 90 schools around the world through its 'Light for Better Learning' campaign in celebration of UNESCO's first International Day of Light. Through this campaign the Signify Foundation improves learning opportunities for young people in on- and off-grid communities by providing lighting to schools and workshops on energy efficiency and climate change.

Bridgelux, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance, solid-state LED arrays, announced the selection of Bridgelux® Décor Series™ LED arrays for a new lighting installation at the Lower Basilica of San Francesco of Assisi in Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Founded in 1228, the Basilica is decorated with frescoes painted by medieval artists, illustrating the unique development of Italian art. The new lighting system will highlight the unique quality of the stunning frescoes, while providing safe illumination over the delicate paint and colors.

Now that we’ve flipped the calendar page to January, it’s a chance to celebrate that 2015 has been declared the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) by the United Nations. We don’t take this opportunity – pardon the pun – lightly.  This is for several reasons. First, our jobs revolve around light.  We work for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is a telescope in space that observes X-rays from the Universe. X-rays are a kind of light. In fact, there are many different kinds of light, but only one that the human eye can detect naturally (called optical, or “visible,” light).

On Monday January 19th, The International Year of Light 2015 was officially launched at the UNESCO Headquarter in Paris. During the Opening Ceremony, Philips Lighting CEO, Eric Rondolat, who was one of the speakers announced that Philips Lighting is committed to help end light poverty. He stated “We need to end light poverty for 1.3 billion people by 2030… Eradicating Light Poverty is the most socio-economic thing to do”.  Eric Rondolat also talked about how solar powered LED lighting is an alternative to kerosene.

Millions of people are needlessly dying because a fifth of the world’s population does not have access to electric light, Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting, warns today. More than 1.3 billion people  are trapped in light poverty as they don’t have access to electricity. Most of those affected resort to kerosene lamps and candles to light their homes and businesses. But these primitive light sources claim the lives of 1.5 million people  every year through respiratory illnesses and fires – the same number killed annually by HIV-related diseases.

Many people don't know that there’s more to scientist Isaac Newton than a certain apple falling from a tree. Holding a prism of glass in the path of sunlight, he showed that white light is actually made up of seven different colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Color comes from light – in fact, color is light.

The Ministry of Culture and Elementary and Secondary Education of the Republic of Indonesia, PT. Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko (Persero)[*1], the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Office in Jakarta, and Panasonic Corporation signed a four-way Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on October 9 to promote "conservation and awareness raising for the protection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites" and "education and cultural activities aimed at sustainable development for young people in the vicinity of the Borobudur, Prambanan, Ratu Boko sites in Indonesia." The signing marked the launch of the following joint projects. 

  Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting, announces that it has become the first patron sponsor of the International Year of Light in 2015, a UNESCO-led initiative.