Engage your communities with Space Sciences & Technologies
The newly-released spaceEU Engage with Space Toolkit is a ready-to-use digital collection of space centred activities with a specific focus on girls and underserved communities. The Toolkit is composed of the Step into Space Exhibition and a set of Educational and Outreach activities. These activities encourage and help schools, youth centres, museums, universities, NGOs and informal learning spaces to bring together students, families, space professionals, their communities and more to engage them with the wonders of space.
Step into Space Exhibition
Step into Space is an exciting exhibition developed by Ars Electronica that brings together space sciences and art to inspire youths and their families. The exhibition consists of three flexible modules which allow building a regional connection and engagement. The exhibition looks into how space exploration has been an intrinsic part of our lives, contributing to new technologies we use here on Earth, assists us in thinking about how to protect our planet, and inspiring us to think outside the box and to cooperate. The exhibition opened at the Ars Electronica Festival 2019 and has been replicated in spaceEU node countries during 2020.
You can find graphic templates, a detailed Exhibition handbook about how to build the exhibition and architectural design guidelines that allow you to adjust the exhibition to your needs. We encourage you to invite and collaborate with local artists who can contribute to the exhibition.
In addition, there are two additional versions of the exhibition that are also suited for educational settings:
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Print@Home Exhibition: With this version of the exhibition, the space exploration journey comes to your home. By following simple instructions and with easy-to-find materials you can become an exhibition designer and explore the fascination of space at the same time. In the video below, you can find more information about the Print@Home exhibition:
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Online Exhibition: Experience the exhibition with a series of space missions that will guide you through an online adventure. This version is perfectly suited for teachers to introduce how space exploration has been an intrinsic part of our lives in their classrooms.
Educational and Outreach activities
Through STEAM approaches and a special focus on girls and underserved communities, spaceEU’s educational and outreach activities engage citizens with space science and careers.
The activities guidelines include Space in the Classroom, with guidelines for professionals from the space sector to visit schools; space4youth, a small youth conference where young people can present their knowledge, projects and views about space exploration. SpaceEU engagement activities also promote dialogue between space stakeholders and young people, parents and society-at-large through three participatory formats: Citizen Space Debate, which brings together space stakeholders and citizens for an open discussion on controversial topics; Space Unconference, where participants co-create the programme of a space conference; and Space Café, a short and informal talk presenting current topics of space research, innovation, policy or design.
The Engage with Space Toolkit is designed as an open-source model, with all of its contents and designs available under a Creative Commons licence (Attribution International 4.0). Under this license you are able to use the materials in any medium or format, even commercially, providing that you give appropriate credit, and we also encourage to localise it, meaning that you can translate it to your language and/or add local examples.
For inquiries contact:
Laura Welzenbach
Ars Electronica
Laura.Welzenbach@ars.electronica.art
Jorge Rivero González
Leiden Observatory / Leiden University
rivero@strw.leidenuniv.nl
