Every year, the Office of Astronomy for Development provides grants and supports projects around the world that apply astronomy in the pursuit of sustainable development. In 2021, the OAD funded 21 projects for a total of 110,000 Euro. Despite the continuing threats posed by the pandemic, these projects addressed local and global challenges through astronomy-related innovations. They include the development of astronomy video content for television lessons in Pakistan; training programs for displaced populations in refugee camps in Algeria, Spain, Italy and Uganda; motivating prisoners in Nigeria through astronomy; teaching coding using astronomical topics in Portugal, Mozambique and East Timor; mentoring and inspiring girls in primary schools in rural Kenya; and astronomy projects to celebrate indigenous culture and help students identify with their ancestral roots in Chile, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola, and Portugal.
As projects draw to a close, the OAD arranged for them to present their outcomes and achievements. Each project gave a (very) short presentation to an invited audience of OAD staff, regional offices, IAU Offices, reviewers, collaborators, and others.
WATCH SHORT VIDEOS OF 2021 PROJECTS
| # |
Project Title
|
PPT/PDF link |
| 1 |
Rediscovering Identity though Astronomy, Chile |
|
| 2 |
AMANAR 2.0: A refuge in the stars, Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, Spain, Italy |
Slides |
| 3 |
Astronomy Motivation Activities in Rural India |
Slides |
| 4 |
Astro Sprint, India (online) |
Slides |
| 5 |
Knowledge access and sharing through Cultural Astronomy in Uganda’s Refugee settlements and host communities |
Slides |
| 6 |
COVID-19 in Amazonas, Brazil |
|
| 7 |
Astro-prison, Nigeria |
Slides |
| 8 |
Video Astronomy Lessons for Pakistani School Children |
|
| 9 |
Empowerment of Disadvantaged Rural Girl Children as Social Change Agents through Basic Education in Astronomy, India |
Slides |
| 10 |
Astrolab Distant Training, Southern, Eastern and West African countries |
Slides |
| 11 |
Asteroids workshop: A rocky adventure, Chile |
Slides |
| 12 |
Empowering Rational Capacity through Astronomy: A Distant Learning Approach from Bosscha Observatory, Indonesia |
Slides |
| 13 |
Code learning with astronomical ideas, Portugal, Mozambique, East Timor |
|
| 14 |
Elimisha Msichana. Elimisha Jamii na Astronomia (Swahili for ‘educate a girl, educate the entire community with Astronomy’), Kenya |
Slides |
| 15 |
Interdisciplinary Radio Astronomy, global |
Slides |
| 16 |
Astrobus-Nigeria |
|
| 17 |
Open Astronomy Clubs for Quality Education, Gender Equality, Cameroon |
|
| 18 |
OruMbya – Astronomy as fuel of life: the resilience of stars in Yoruba, Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Cosmogony, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, Angola and Portugal |
|
| 19 |
Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers 2021 |
Slides |
| 20 |
Astronomy for Environmental protection in Gobi desert, Mongolia |
Slides |
| 21 |
Upliftment of Space Technology and Astronomy Cell in Himalayas, India |
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