The fact that the World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 (WCSJ2011) was coming to Egypt has been an ongoing source of excitement for me for the past two years. Ever since we presented our bid during the WCSJ2009 in London, UK, and won – it has been an exciting rollercoaster ride. Tiring, yes, but very very exciting.

Now, in light of the current situation in Egypt, it became impossible to hold the conference in three months in its original venue. After many heated discussions and a lot of tears shed, the organizers decided to move it to neighbouring Qatar.

The exciting conference, coming 27-29 June, is an event that science journalists wait for every two years to get together and talk and learn of all that is new in their profession. The co-bid presented by the Arab Science Journalists Association (ASJA) and the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) promises the strongest programme for a WCSJ yet.

“One of the few complaints about previous WCSJs was that sometimes the audience was more diverse than the program. So this is by far the most global conference in terms of this content, with strong presentations from not only the Arab region, but Africa, Latin America and Asia,” said Deborah Blum, the programme chair.

While many were disappointed with the move, the Qatar venue is still a very exciting option, especially for science journalists. The Arab world is, arguably, one of the most interesting regions in the world right now for emerging science. Qatar is at the forefront of this science renaissance, This science, however, is oft underreported. This will be an opportunity for visiting science journalists to report on this exciting science.

The leading WCSJ2011 sponsor, the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) is also promising many surprises and opportunities for attendees. They have been strong supporters of WCSJ2011 since the very beginning. Coupled with the well-known genuine Arabian hospitality, I would say visitors are in for quite a treat!

WCSJ2011 breaks many new grounds. It is the first one to be held in an Arab state, it is the first one to come to the developing world, and I expect it will do wonders for science journalism in the region. It has already generated much interest in science journalism (which is a profession that was hardly known of in the region a few years ago).

The organizers have been traveling around the region, talking with government and non-government entities about the conference. The buzz this generated is probably the biggest gain that Arab science journalists could hope for in the future. “The amount of support and enthusiasm we’ve been receiving has been tremendous. So many regional organizations are already thinking of programs to support science journalism and the communication of science in general. A community is being created to support this profession,” said Nadia El-Awady, president of the World Federation of Science Journalists and co-director of WCSJ2011.

All in all, this year is an exciting time to be a science journalist in the Arab world.

“Before the revolution happened, we wanted to bring science journalists to the region in order to report on the science happening here. Now that the winds of change or blowing over the Arab world, we’re even more excited for participants to come to the region. We want them to see the new reality we’ve created for ourselves. We want them to see how proud we are. We want them to share our excitement and hope for a better future,” added El-Awady