It’s a kind of Magic!
As we prepare to celebrate World Refrigeration Day 2025 on June 26th, we are proud to launch this year’s global campaign: Cool Skills — a celebration of the real people whose skills keep our world cool, safe, and connected.
Too often, the individuals behind the refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat pump (RACHP) industry go unseen. This campaign is our way of changing that—by putting faces to the skills, and voices to the expertise.
We’re inviting people and organisations across the sector to join us by submitting photos and short stories of real team members—technicians, engineers, apprentices, admin staff, support workers, educators, and innovators—anyone whose work contributes to the success of our industry.
These aren’t models or stock photos—these are real people doing real work in every corner of the world. Their images will be creatively enhanced with the WRD logo and themed effects (like ice or flames), in the style of these examples, meet Diarrah from Mali, the winner of first U3ARC – WRD Dr Charity Kpabep Award, and Trevor Matthews from Canada.
This is what we do to them: It’s a kind of magic!
We add the WRD logo complete with flames and ice
Some will also be selected to feature on the main banner, which we will change frequently:
👥 How You Can Get Involved
📸 Photo Guidelines:
- Pose: Hands out in front, palms up (as if holding something).
- Clothing: Uniforms or workwear are encouraged. Office attire is also fine. Logos are welcome.
- Background: On site or at home is fine—well-lit and tidy works best.
- Framing: Try to show the full upper body. Avoid cropping elbows or heads.
- Top Tip: Dark clothing shows the WRD logo most clearly.
- Expression: Looking directly at the camera creates the best effect.
- Hands: Slightly apart gives us room for the graphics.
- Equipment: A smartphone photo is just fine—no need for professional shots!
📝 Optional: Share a Few Words
Along with the photo, we’d love a few paragraphs about your cool skills:
- What do you do
- What skills you use
- Why your work matters—to the industry, to others, to the planet, or to the future!
These short reflections help make the campaign truly personal and grounded in real experience.
📩 How to Submit
- Please make sure you have consent from anyone in the photo.
- By submitting, you give World Refrigeration Day permission to use the photo and story as part of the Cool Skills campaign across social media and promotional materials.
- Submit via: 👉 https://worldrefrigerationday.org/2025-cool-skills-showcase/
We’ll begin sharing submissions from the start of June, so the sooner we receive yours, the better!
🔄 Help Us Reach More People
We want this campaign to reflect the true diversity of talent in our sector—from every region, every discipline, and every role. Please help by forwarding this invitation to colleagues, branches, member organisations, and networks. Let’s make sure no one is left out—especially those who aren’t usually in the spotlight.
We want this campaign to reflect the true diversity of talent in our sector—from every region, every discipline, and every role. Please help by forwarding this invitation to colleagues, branches, member organisations, and networks. Let’s make sure no one is left out—especially those who aren’t usually in the spotlight.
Real people: show the world our cool skills
This is a chance to show the world what the cooling and sustainable heating industry is really made of—not just technology, but highly skilled people. Our industry is built on skills – innovative, practical, technical, and often quietly brilliant.
Thank you for helping make WREFD 2025 a celebration of the real faces, real skills, and real stories of our sector.
Stephen Gill
Founder & Secretariat
World Refrigeration Day
