Session 2 – POSTERS

The Open Universe Initiative aims to foster the continued development of a culture of open shareable data in astronomy and spaces sciences, with the principal goals of impacting in education and development at a global scale. It stems from the view that scientific data, including space science and astronomical data, are a common good that should be freely available to the benefit of all people, and that open data is the primary entry door to an equitable access to space and to the democratic distribution of the benefits resulting from space exploration.
Currently in development at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, in cooperation with the participating member states and institutions, Open Universe integrates the «Space 2030 Agenda” for sustainable development, as an instrument contributing to promoting quality education and capacity building in the space sector. Open Universe aims to achieve these goals by improving international cooperation and the development of innovative tools and resources to improve data accessibility and usability at all levels, from the expert to the interested citizen, linking holders of astronomy and space science data with an ever-broader world community of users that can exploit those data for whatever scientific, educational or cultural purpose.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), as the UN’s dedicated entity for space affairs, works on the legal, policy and capacity building aspects of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. For the Open Universe Initiative, UNOOSA acts as the central node and Executive Secretariat. As the operational center of the initiative, it will support the conduction of capacity building activities as well as foster best practices for open shareable data policies to contribute to the development of space sciences globally, helping to bridge the gap between developed and developing nations.
Having the UN as a central broker in the international cooperation, supported by the participating member states, the initiative is open to all types of public entities dealing with data in astronomy and space science, whether governmental entities, non-governmental organisations, intergovernmental organisations or associations. Private entities accepting the license conditions on their data are similarly welcome to join the initiative. Participant institutions will therefore be expected to contribute with the provision of data, documentation, software, training, educational material or access to hardware to others.
In this presentation we will show in detail the concept and objectives of the initiative, as well as the first steps of its implementation, currently going on at the United Nations and the participating institutions, aiming to encourage new interested parties to join the initiative.

The mission of the science communication center from Universidad Autónoma de Chile, is to reach different audiences, general public, professionals and decision makers, and to create communities around knowledge. We develop customized content, including books, podcast, videos, videogames, among others for each of these publics, on diverse science topics, including astronomy, education, etc.
As part of our astronomy program we have organized star parties, solar observations, seminars and talks and free astronomy books, a series of videos for the last solar eclipse, give solar glasses and more importantly become part of several astronomy outreach networks including high school teachers, students, inclusive astronomy and others.
Our goals are to raise awareness on astronomy in general and in protecting the sky from light pollution. In the education area we try to use astronomy and astronomy related tools to improve critical thinking, programming, math and other skills. We have used virtual observatory tools to create some courses for high school kids projects, making use of the large databases available for free through these tools. Part of our ongoing strategy is to organize citizen science projects, related to the December eclipse.
At the science communication center we emphasize the multidisciplinary views in every of the activities we make and organize, astronomy is one of the key parts since it is usually interesting to people and directly depend on several different sciences, from physics to chemistry and computer science, especially now in the era o big data.
In the short term we plan to increase our engagement particularly with adults, since most of the ongoing work is focused in kids and teenagers, we want to reach older audiences (20-45 years old) using a variety of formats.
In this talk I will also present some preliminary results of our pre eclipse educational campaign and how are we integrating astronomy and other sciences on our educational and general outreach programs

Students took an assembly-type telescope kit from a public elementary school and brought it to their homes. Three classes attempted to observe the Moon at home using the Kaifu-NAOJ Telescope Kit. As a result, all children observed the Moon at home using the kit. From their observations, around 90% identified the existence of craters and understood the reflection of sunlight on the Moon’s surface. As Covid-19 prevention measures in education, we propose the introduction of at-home telescopic observations for STEAM activities.

A central and unique feature of the human species is our desire for explanations. Where did our sense of curiosity come from? And why, on the current evidence, are we the only species in the Universe to possess this feature? Traditionally, these have been treated as separate questions; in this presentation, I will suggest a way to combine them into a single line of inquiry. I will also draw on the Symposium themes of cultural astronomy and solar eclipses to propose a speculative answer.
I will begin by considering the Rare Earth hypothesis, which states that the development of complex life depended upon a set of physical, chemical and biological circumstances that may be vanishingly rare within the Universe. I will extend this idea to open up a new line of inquiry: does the Earth have some special ingredient that led not only to complex life, but to curious life? I will speculate that solar eclipses may be such an ingredient.
We can confidently say that solar eclipses are not rare within the Universe. However, the ‘perfect’ total and annular eclipses we experience on the Earth, together with their mean frequency of once every few hundred years for a given location, may be exceedingly rare. Although these eclipses have no lasting effect on the Earth and its environment, they have an overwhelming effect on humans and human communities. I will tentatively propose that solar eclipses provided early humans with novelty on a scale large enough to help trigger the development of curiosity.
In effect, solar eclipses may have acted as a finely tuned ‘pump of curiosity’: if they occurred more frequently, they would not have provided sufficient novelty to stimulate the brains of early humans; if they occurred less frequently, they would not have provided enough stimuli to different communities, at different times, to kindle the first flames of curiosity.
This presentation will provide Symposium delegates with an opportunity to engage in fun speculation across a range of disciplines. To help generate discussion and debate, I will present comments from my interviews and correspondence with practitioners working in a variety of areas, including:
* astronomy and physics – eg, Stephen Webb, author of «Where is everybody? Seventy-five solutions to the Fermi paradox and the problem of extraterrestrial life» (Springer, 2015)
* exoplanet and exomoon research – eg, Cecilia Lazzoni, lead author of «The search for disks or planetary objects around directly imaged companions: A candidate around DH Tau B» (arXiv:2007.10097, 2020)
* neuroscience and philosophy – eg, Daniel C Dennett, author of «From bacteria to Bach and back: The evolution of minds» (WW Norton, 2017)
* primatology and anthropology – eg, Tetsuro Matsuzawa, editor of «Primate origins of human cognition and behavior» (Springer, 2001)
* solar eclipses and human culture – eg, Jay Pasachoff, co-author of «Cosmos: The art and science of the Universe» (Reaktion Books, 2019)

Being on the brink of another industrial revolution in the field of space exploration, there exists a critical need to evaluate and strategize the importance of legal issues and conflicts which may arise in the future, going hand in hand with all the scientific developments taking place. With the private sector (Boeing, SpaceX, etc) gradually gaining an upper hand in the commercial usage of objects manufactured for space activity and emergence of cutting-edge technologies, it carries along with it a fair share of economic and legal challenges. Whether the current architecture of rules and laws that governs all these activities is penned down to be in the interests of the larger public and if not, can such tasks under the label of research and other purposes be conducted along the same lines is a fundamental question that needs to be analysed and asked by all professionals present within the Astronomy community. A practical awareness inculcated amongst the profession via imparting knowledge of competitive practice procedures, protection and infringement of property rights such as intellectual property, criminal grounds or securitization and drawing up of contracts and future plans, etc, is all becoming undeniably necessary when it comes to any education or training undertaken by those pursuing a career related to Astronomy. Furthermore, defining the limits of Astronomy activity that is conducted, and it being compliant to it in a way that does not prove to be detrimental in retrospect to humans or environment must be scrutinised accordingly. Satellite constellations and the risk of space debris are some alarming aspects which should similarly be addressed upon before the launch of large-scale projects by various countries. Exploitation of natural resources also needs to be examined deeply prior to granting of licenses (e.g. US Space Act 2015). In a nutshell, corroborative to the scientific education approach, it is essential to adapt a novel economical and ethical one so as to objectively foster a dynamic and inclusive vision in order to sustain a global Astronomy framework.

The School Workshops on Astronomy (SWA), which are a bi-annual event popularizing astronomy and other sciences, are addressed to pupils of the age 15-18. The SWA have been organized at the Orle Mountain Station (Poland, Izera Mountains) since 2009. The program of the SWA consists of talks given by scientists and teachers, various hands-on activities, observations of astronomical and environmental phenomena, and dedicated exhibitions. Astronomy is at the centre of the SWA, but other sciences (physics, biology, geography, meteorology, geology, computer science, ect.) as well as connections between them are also present. The main goal of the SWA is to help pupils to find their genuine interests, which they may develop in their future education and career plans.

I present my work developing and applying an educational programme to teach basic concepts of astronomy and astrophysics to primary school students. The innovation of this programme is that it relies on an interdisciplinary approach to astronomy, allowing children to link (and practice) knowledge acquired in other key learning areas such as mathematics, language, science, humanities, arts and physical education with amusing and playful activities. The main objective of the programme is to make children aware of the importance of the development of science and technology for society. In order to do so, the classes are intended to make children marvel at the wonders of the Universe while making them aware of the role of scientists and engineers in the development of astronomical knowledge.
The learning experience is based on a short (5 to 10 minutes) presentation or audiovisual exposition by the professor, using either a slide show or didactic material followed by a hands-on activity or team game performed by the children in a 40-minute period. The activity must be playful and amusing, and must allow the students to practice knowledge or skills developed in other classes (e.g. mathematics, language, physical practice) directly or indirectly. Besides, it is allowed to use different materials to perform the activity, so that everyone, regardless of their physical or intellectual disabilities, will be able to perform the class activity in a joyful and empowering way. During the activity, the children are encouraged to ask as many questions as they want and share comments related to the topic of that day’s class.
Last year I applied the programme for the first time in a small school supported by a private organization in the state of Puebla, in Mexico. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown some of the classes were held in the school facilities, while almost half of the classes were given through virtual platforms. This required to adapt and modify part of the material into individual activities and to use Quizizz, an online assessment tool that allows the creation of gamified quizzes. At the end of the year, over 80% of the students that completed the course believed they had increased their knowledge of astronomy and requested to continue with the classes on the next school term. In my experience, astronomy is an excellent tool not only to engage students into STEM areas, but also to promote diversity and inclusion in primary school and to empower the new generations.

SeneSTEM aims to bring Senegalese children and young people into contact with science, and – by extension – with the STEM disciplines (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) in a very accessible and illustrative way. We do this with concrete workshops and experiments, for both teachers and for groups of children and young people. In collaboration with different educational organisations in Senegal, among which the Senegalese Association for the Promotion of Astronomy, SeneSTEM ensures that all layers of the population are enthusiastic about science (education). Special attention is given to motivating girls for scientific careers. SeneSTEM actions are based on an international collaboration partly supported by development funds from the city of Antwerp and the Unversity of Antwerp (Belgium).

This talk explores the reframing of promoting Astronomy as popular science, inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through STEAM Innovation, integrating science and arts, such as Astro-Music and Space Art, would be a case in point of forced association. It redefines our methodology of Astronomy education and encourages the engagement of teachers from other disciplines. Supporting with user-centered design thinking, this pedagogy contributes effectively to the interactive teaching for solving real-life problems related to Astronomy.