What is Expo 2020?

Back in November 2017, Dubai was awarded as the host of the Expo 2020. The UAE has selected the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, giving visitors an intriguing yet ambiguous insight into the event itself. And, as we edge closer to 2020, it’s becoming clearer exactly what Expo 2020 will entail. Read on as we take a closer look at Dubai’s moment on the international stage.

A world first at the World Expo

Following over 30 World Expositions in everywhere from Seattle to Shanghai, Expo 2020 will be the first World Expo held in a Middle Eastern location. The largest UAE city beat competition from Izmir, Yekaterinburg and São Paulo in Turkey, Russia and Brazil, respectively. It will follow on from Expo 2015, held in Milan, Italy, which focused on the theme “Feeding the planet, Energy for life”.

World expositions are designed to showcase different nations’ achievements. They cover universal themes that affect all countries and all humans more broadly. That’s exactly why Dubai has chosen “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” with the subthemes of Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity.

About Expo 2020

Dubai’s Expo will showcase human ingenuity. As the official site explains “The engines of growth are no longer steam-powered.” In the modern world, innovation and growth are about new ideas, collaboration and connection. Each of the sub themes poses a number of questions:

• Opportunity – What will money look like in the future? Will there still be classrooms in 2050?
• Mobility – How will the cars of the future be fuelled? How many drone-related jobs can you think of?
• Sustainability – Can we find the cure for cancer in nature? Can you engineer the weather and national climates?

These ideas will be discussed with potential answers at all kinds of exhibitions over the course of six months from October 2020 to April 2021. Recently announced, for instance, is the Emirates National Oil Company’s plan to have a futuristic service station at the Expo. They want to launch the station as a fully functioning fuel station with solar, hydrogen and hydrocarbon energy sources on offer.

At a time when OPEC is on a mission to reduce the global oil surplus and regulate fluctuating prices, this kind of innovative thinking is clearly much needed. The world is in a transition phase between, among other things, the widespread use of fossil fuels and the advent of renewable energy sources. Dubai’s Expo 2020 could be a landmark event in this transition. For more on the latest innovations in fuel, check out the article ‘Bellows Pumps as the Foundation for Process and Emissions Analysis Sending Sample Gas Well on its Way’