Greg Stachowski is an assistant professor at the Pedagogical University in Krakow, Poland, where he educates future teachers in physics and astronomy, and researches variable stars and the history of astronomy. He has been involved with the Polish national astronomy olympiad for 20 years, has participated in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) since 2007 and is the current President of the IOAA.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 26, 10:30 UTC

Astronomical Olympiads as a piece of the astronomy education puzzle

Olympiads are a form of intellectual competition for school students originally inspired by the sports Olympics, and just like in sports they can inspire young people and provide a framework for them to learn and grow. In this presentation I will explain the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, talk about national astronomical olympiads. I will also show some examples of how astronomical olympiads can provide materials for teaching astronomy, motivate students and teachers and improve links between teachers and professional and amateur astronomers.

Hasnaa Chennaoui is a scientist in the field of Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences and Geochemistry. She is Professor at the Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morroco, Director of GAIA Laboratory and Coordinator of the Centre of Research on Geo-ressources and Environment. She is the first women graduated in Meteoritics in Morocco and Arabic countries. She has received several awards for her research, including the “Paul Doistau-Emile Blutet” in Planetology, Academy of Sciences, Institut de France on November 2009 and the Moroccan National TV SNRT Trophy on “Distinguished Women in Morocco” on March 2016. She organized many meetings in Casablanca Morocco, including the 77th Meteoritical Society meeting on September 2014, organized for the first time in an Arabic and Muslim country.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 27, 08:05 UTC

Attarik Foundation: An Example of Meteoritics and Planetary Science Dissemination Initiative

Since its inception April 18, 2019, ATTARIK Foundation through its members and its office has undertaken nu-merous actions and activities in line with the objectives of the Foundation. ATTARIK Foundation has, in just over two years, established itself as the reference organization in Morocco in the promotion of research in the field of me-teorites and planetology. Numerous requests for participation and contribution reach the Foundation.

The year 2019 was a year of implementation and the year 2020 was the year of the development of ATTARIK Foundation although strongly disrupted by the constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic. ATTARIK Foundation has nevertheless organized a large number of actions, conferences, field missions, communication initiatives which testify to the dynamism of the members of the Foundation.

The contribution of the members of the foundation during this year has been exemplary. Thus, the scientific pro-motion aspect has been enriched and strengthened. However, the scientific research aspect has been slowed down.

For 2021, the focus will be on the autonomy and financial sustainability of the foundation, the continuation of all scientific and popularization actions, in particular the organization of a temporary exhibition in the format of a travel-ing museum of Meteorites, Planets and Space exploration sciences. ATTARIK expo was launched on June 30, 2021, and welcoming visitors for two months extended to two extra months. It will end on October 30, 2021. Another opening component was initiated in 2020 and will continue in 2021, namely involvement in territorial development through the creation of geotourism circuits to promote Moroccan geoheritage.

Strategic Vision of ATTARIK Foundation for 2021-2023 is based on “Dream Big & Start Small”. Our common desire is to dream big for the future of our country with the contribution of our association. Dreaming of a national center dedicated to geology, astronomy, planetology and meteorites, endowed with research laboratories, giving the opportunity to doctoral students and researchers to promote Morocco in these fields.

Dr. Jamal Mimouni is an Algerian astrophysicist actively involved in the organization of a series of Schools and Conferences on Theoretical Physics as well as Astrophysics that bring together researchers from the various Algerian universities and research centers as well as a number of European and African universities. He is also an actor on the science, society, and the cultural dimension of the scientific debate in the Arab-Muslim world and has developed a keen interest in the philosophy of contemporary science, as well as to spreading scientific culture in societies of the developing world. He is also an actor on the science, society, and the cultural dimension of the scientific debate in the Arab-Muslim world and has developed a keen interest in the philosophy of contemporary science, as well as to spreading scientific culture in societies of the developing world.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 23, 19:30 UTC

A quick scan of African Astronomy

We will do country-hopping throughout Africa as amateur astronomers do star-hopping during their star-gazing sessions at night. We will visit the various bright spots as well as discuss the various tasks at hand to bring astronomy to the shadowy places on the continent, alas still too numerous…

For 20 years, Julie Bolduc-Duval has been sharing her passion for astronomy and science with countless school groups, students, and members of the public in various settings across Canada and online. In 2011, she started the program Discover the Universe which engages thousands of educators every year. Julie loves to collaborate with educators and scientists everywhere to make the world a better place through science education. She lives in a small town in the French-Canadian province of Quebec where she enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her husband and three children.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 23 14:35 UTC

“Lessons Learned: 10 Years of Online Training & Education”

Discover the Universe is an astronomy education program based in Canada which has been offering online training for teachers and educators since 2011. Years before the pandemic pushed everyone into delivering content online, we had run different formats of online training, some more successful than others. In this talk, we will openly and honestly discuss the lessons learned, epic fails, and a few ideas to inspire your own programs!

Dr. Rick Fienberg is Press Officer of the American Astronomical Society, Senior Contributing Editor (and former Editor in Chief) of Sky & Telescope magazine, and co-creator of the Galileoscope educational telescope kit, a Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. He is completing his 3-year term as President of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission C2, Communicating Astronomy with the Public.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 25, 16:30 UTC

Sky & Telescope: Gateway to the Universe

In November 2021 Sky & Telescope magazine celebrates its 80th anniversary. While it has evolved considerably throughout its eight decades of monthly publication, it has consistently served as a valuable resource for both amateur and professional astronomers. It has also played a significant role in astronomy education, in part because many professional astronomers who read the magazine teach introductory astronomy classes. In this presentation we’ll review the magazine’s history and look at some of the ways it has been used in the classroom and in other educational settings. We’ll also look at plans to make S&T an even more integral part of astronomy education in the future than it has been in the past.

Mirjana Pović is a Serbian-Spanish astrophysicist who works on galaxy formation and evolution at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute. In addition, over more than 10 years, she worked on development in astronomy, science, and education in different parts of Africa. She was awarded the Nature – Estée Lauder Inspiring Science Award and the Jocelyn Bell Burnell Inspiration Medal of the European Astronomical Society. She believes that through education, science, and technology we can combat poverty in the long term and make in the future our world to be a better place for everyone, regardless of where the children are born.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 26, 14:30 UTC

“Astronomy education for development in Africa”

Education and its contribution to science, technology, and innovation are the key points for combating poverty in the long term. Education is also a key point for empowering girls and women, which is fundamental for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Astronomy is a powerful tool to promote education and science, but is also one of the leading sciences for bringing strong technological developments and innovation. Africa has amazing potential due to natural and human resources for scientific research in astronomy and space science. The status of astronomy and space science in Africa changed significantly over the past years, and never before it was more possible to use astronomy education for development as it is nowadays. This talk will briefly summarise the contribution of astronomy to different SDGs in Africa, and the importance of astronomy education, using as an example various projects that are currently running, from outreach and public awareness up to the post-graduate programs.

Dr Robert Massey is Deputy Executive Director of the Royal Astronomical Society, where he spends his days making the case for astronomy to the wider world. Before joining the RAS, his career took him from PhD research in Manchester on the Orion nebula to teaching, local politics, and then a stint as Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. In his spare time he teaches his nine year old daughter about science, enjoys running, hiking, cycling, cooking and when babysitting allows spends time with his wife enjoying the cultural life of his home city of Bristol. With the art historian Dr Alexandra Loske, he recently published Moon: Art, Science, Culture to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 24 10:10 UTC
“Public astronomy in an online world: unexpected opportunities from a global crisis”

At the start of 2020 the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) began its bicentenary year, with a programme of public celebrations marking its status as the oldest continuously running astronomy organisation in the world. Just two months later the first UK ‘lockdown’ took effect as the tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic reached its first peak, forcing a dramatic reappraisal of our entire private and working lives.

The RAS shifted extraordinarily quickly to an online-only operation, with the pandemic ending virtually all our face to face work at a stroke, but driving an entirely new programme that engaged audiences across the globe. In this talk I will describe the (to use a cliché!) opportunities and challenges this presents, and the way in which even a venerable organisation like the RAS has been changed forever

Santus Cale is Curriculum Specialist at the National Curriculum Development Centre of Uganda. He has vast experience in teacher training and teacher support in curriculum management, development and effective usage of Instructional resources in facilitating learning.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 27 17:45 UTC

Efficiency and Effectiveness of Online Pedagogy a an Alternative Instructional Strategy for Training Astronomy Educators, in The Wake of the Covid Pandemic – A Case of Uganda

Astronomy until now has not been a recognized content area in Pre-University levels of Uganda education. Recognizing the importance of Astronomy as a field in science, the National Curriculum Development Centre has carefully integrated astronomy content in the curriculum for Physics.

Being a new field within the curriculum, the critical question was whether the teachers are prepared and ready to teach this subject area? A pre-training survey revealed inadequate teacher readiness to teach astronomy.

With a solid partnership with the Global Hands of the Universe, the National Curriculum Development Centre engaged 17 Physics educators in an Online training using Zoom video conferencing, email and the Whatsapp applications. The training had 14 sessions of 4 hours every Saturday. The facilitators were in different places; Nepal, Iran and the US.

70.5% of the educators completed the training with the scores for teacher readiness in the post training survey significantly higher than those in the pre-training survey. Teachers further confirmed acquisition of ICT skills and a better appreciation of the use of online pedagogy.

The second phase of the training is using the SESEMAT framework to roll the training to the classroom teachers. In this phase, one of the three regional trainers for physics from each of the 28 SESEMAT regions was identified for training. In the third phase, the other two physics teachers have been targeted. At this level, the number of trained participants will be 96. These will be expected to support the Physics educators in their regions and begin to implement a national, scalable system of astronomy education. The powerful syllabus, activities, methods, and global collaboration has easily attracted teachers, and we anticipate no difficulties in recruiting new teachers.

Dr Scott Sleap is regarded as a visionary educator – in 2018, he was the first Technology teacher to ever win the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence for Secondary Science Teaching. As an educational leader with over 25 years’ experience he has had various roles related to the primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors as well as industry workforce development. Dr Sleap has a strong interest in Space and is currently part of the advisory committee for the NSW Government’s Space Industry Development Strategy. He was also on the local organising committee for the 43rd COSPAR Scientific Congress.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 23, 08:30 UTC

STEM and Space Education Initiatives in Australia

Australia has one of the fastest growing space industries in the world. To develop its sovereign capabilities Australia is now placing a much larger emphasis on STEM Education. In this Keynote, Dr Scott Sleap will explore how one of the largest education authorities in the world, the NSW Department of Education, is building sovereign workforce capacity through the STEM Industry School Partnerships (SISP) program.

Vivian White is Director of Free Choice Learning, administering the NASA Night Sky Network (NSN). A community of more than 425 amateur astronomy clubs across the country, NSN supports club outreach and events with an interactive website and webinars. Vivian designs astronomy activities and demos specifically for informal settings, working with citizen scientists, Girl Scouts, Tibetan monks, and many others to expand the ways we learn astronomy out of school. Beyond the night sky, her passions include pottery, poetry, and social justice.

Keynote Talk – Aug. 26, 17:00 UTC