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Astronomy for a Better World:

Reflections on the OAD

(from the Executive Perspective)

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Debra Elmegreen, IAU President

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

OAD Session

IAU Strategic Plan for 2020-2030

• The OAD was the first IAU Office, founded in 2011 following the IAU Strategic Plan 2010–2020 adopted at GA2009
• The IAU Strategic Plan 2020–2030 set goals and actions for the whole IAU, including OAD; adopted at GA2018
• Goal 3: The IAU uses astronomy as a tool for development in every country
• Goal 3 included new action items in addition to ongoing efforts
• OAD developed its detailed Strategic Plan based on these
• Part of Resolution A1 at GA2018 requested a Strategic Plan review by GA2024 (presented at EC110 in April and sent to members in June) – this talk focuses on the OAD from an Executive Committee view

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

History:

Goal 3: The IAU uses astronomy as a tool for development in every country

Goal 3 Actions involving the OAD

• Develop global signature projects
• Contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Establish regional offices to cover all populated regions
• Refine OAD project evaluation and feedback loop
• Use astronomical technology to position young people for career opportunities
• Establish interdiscipinary partnerships around science for development
• Source the necessary funding

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

All of these are possible because astronomy is both inspirational and transformational!

Action: Develop a number of global OAD signature projects

Efforts to date:

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Flagship programs

(with >220 funded projects!)

Astronomy knowledge & skills for development

Harnessing the inspirational potential of astronomy

Socio-economic development through Astronomy

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96% success rate on impact and implementation

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators�

Efforts to date: at least 12 UN SDGs impacted

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators

• #3 good health and well-being
• #4 quality education
• #5 gender equality
• #6 clean water and sanitation
• #7 affordable and clean energy
• #8 decent work and economic growth
• #9 industry, innovation and infrastructure
• #10 reduced inequalities
• #11 sustainable cities and communities
• #13 climate action
• #16 peace, justice and strong institutions
• #17 partnerships for the goals

XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

These efforts all start with interest in astronomy as a launch to contribute to society in different ways

e.g., Rediscovering Identity through Astronomy (RITA) in Chile

• Involve indigenous teachers and students
• Look at the sky, and other Astro activities
• Explore indigenous roots in culture and astronomy
• #4 quality education
• #11 sustainable cities and communities

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators - example�

e.g., Astronomy for Mental Health in Armenia, Nigeria, Spain

• Stargazing
• Astronomy talks
• Beauty of the cosmos
• Listening to each other
• #3 good health and well-being
• #4 quality education

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators - example�

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators - example

e.g., Radio Astronomy for Education – in SKA partner countries

• Building a teaching radio astronomy observatory from scratch
• e.g., Nigeria, indigenous population
• #4 quality education
• #5 gender equality
• #10 reduced inequalities

XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Contribute significantly to at least half of all SDG indicators - example

e.g., Big Data Hackathons in SKA partner countries in Africa

• #4 quality education
• #8 decent work and economic growth
• #10 reduced inequalities
• #17 partnerships for the goals

XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Establish enough regional offices to cover all populated regions of the world

Efforts to date:

• 11 Regional Offices and Language Centers
• Europe ROAD established 2018
• North America ROAD established 2020
• Each has its own projects; e.g., NA-ROAD:

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Establish enough regional offices to cover all populated regions of the world

Efforts to date:

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XXXII General Assembly – Au gust 8, 2024

Excellent progress!

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Notable missing regions include Russia, India, Argentina

(but all have had OAD projects, esp. India);

New Zealand/Australia (low population density but SKA)

Action: Use astronomy and its technology to position young people for career opportunities throughout society�

Examples of efforts to date:

• Hackathons - using knowledge and skills in astronomy: programming, data handling, data analysis and machine learning, infrastructure such as cloud computing platforms
• Distance learning – developing STEM skills
• Health - using tools for tracing health issues in a community
• Building radio telescopes – learning STEM skills, data acquisition
• Mentoring –understanding STEM career paths; engage in research
• Basic science and engineering skills – using satellite data
• Internet of Things – building low-cost sensors for air quality monitoring

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Refine OAD project evaluation and feedback loop�

Efforts to date:

• Online course on development economics
• Video training on how to submit a proposal
• Online details of what’s involved in a proposal
• Online details of monitoring and assessment of a project
• Expert external consultation when developing a proposal, as necessary
• Independent review panel

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Establish interdiscipinary partnerships around science for development�

Efforts to date:

• In data science, many applications including a WHO health alert, hackathons to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the Masakhane grassroots effort to develop machine translation models for African languages
• In mental health, working with mental health professionals to build on psychological practices to improve mental wellbeing through astronomy
• In astrotourism, partnering with local stakeholders to explore light pollution regulations, workshops, industry as part of the intersection of astronomy and tourism
• The OAD also has strong links with OAO, OYA, and OAE

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Action: Source the necessary funding to realize the above and assist other related initiatives in fundraising�

Efforts to date:

• Genevieve Marshall, previous fundraiser for IAU, working with AfAS and GA2024
• New part-time fundraiser to learn from her and build on efforts
• Video training on fundraising for development
• Promising progress for the future
• IAU working on getting full-time fundraiser to help all Offices

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

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Also: Hosting GA2024!

• Celebrating astronomy with the world through the first-ever General Assembly in Africa (and first open access)!

XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Conclusion on Goal 3 actions

Conclusion on review:

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• The OAD has made significant progress on all aspects of the IAU Strategic Plan Goal 3 actions, using astronomy as a tool for development throughout the world

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

The Future

• Enable local fundraising to increase project support
• Expand reach to countries without ROADs, establish new ROADS
• Increase communications among ROADs to share ideas
• Monitor ROADs to provide advice when needed
• Keep the momentum going in Africa!

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XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024

Continue efforts to:

Thanks to the OAD

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Congratulations to the OAD on 13 years of outstanding efforts!

XXXII General Assembly - August 8, 2024