2011 has been declared the year of virtually everything. It’s the International Year of Forests, according to the UN, which has also proclaimed it the International Year of Chemistry, and many other things.

Other organisations have proclaimed it the Year of Volunteering or even the Year of the Bat, the Year of Shopping 3.0 or the Year of Cyber Sabotage. Here’s a selection of official announcements and less serious predictions.

People and society
To start on a positive note, the EU has designated 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering. That’s something few people would object to. The same goes for The Year of Water Safety, which is about time, too.

But what to think of the Year of Shopping 3.0? Apparently, it’s the latest trend in customer services: you browse for products, put them in your shopping cart and then… you drive to your supermarket or other local shop to collect your order. It’ll be ready within 24 hours. Isn’t that modern?

Another handy, internet-related feature is “twintegration”, which combines news facts with eyewitness accounts posted on twitter.

In a more abstract way, 2011 will be the Year of Uncomfortable Truths, the Year of Innovation, the Year of Effectiveness and the Year of Courageous Choices. And the Year of Fair Parking, if you live in the Netherlands, where motorists will be charged per minute instead of per hour.

Nature, environment and science
When it comes to sustainability, Brussels is spearheading change as usual, making 2011 the European Year of the Bat. Of course globally, it will be the Year of Forests and in China, it’s the Rabbit’s turn in the the cycle of the twelve Zodiac animal signs.

In addition, 2011 will be the official Year of the Swallow — a bird struggling for survival here in the Netherlands — the Year of Chemistry and the Year of the Peat Digger. And let’s not forget the Year of Thermal Mass.

Politics and economy
2011 will be the Year of Truth for many, if not all of us. It’ll certainly be for the Dutch centre-right government, a minority coalition propped up by Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party. Will it survive all the belt-tightening, political infighting and islam-bashing?

In economic terms, 2011 is also being hailed as the Year of the Truth (not for the first time), the year of shares (sounds familiar) and contagious economic optimism (a genuine novelty). The winds of prosperity, it is hoped, will be blowing from Germany.

Love, war and peace
Cyber sabotage, UFOs, extraterrestrials, war with Iran — it will all be happening in 2011. According to Amabilis, a website for the transformation and deepening of body, soul and spirit, forecasts crises galore: “In the coming year, people will undergo more self-reflection in which each individual gains a clear picture of his or her personal development, both through spiritual and physical awareness”. Feel free to read this sentence more than once. And then, intriguingly, there is also the Year of “Attention — ladies visiting”.

Sports and leisure
We may rightly end on a light note, because the near future will be humourous, sporty and a paradise for people mad about electronic gadgets. After all, 2011 has been declared the Year of Mobile Services (smartphone, iPad), Playstation 3, the Electric Car, Nintendo 3DS and - for the real eletronic game lover - Kinect, the game system in which your body becomes the console. On the football pitch, 2011 will be the Year of trainer Frank de Boer and Rotterdam team Feyenoord, though not necessarily together.

Fantastic!
Amid the assortment of odd predictions, Dutch social networking site Hyves simply foresees a fantastic 2011 — a wish we heartily make our own.