“Inspiring Stars” is an itinerant international exhibition promoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to highlight world initiatives that address the concept of “inclusion” at outreach, didactic, and professional level, using astronomy.

IAU logo inside the sphere promoting “Uniting the World to Explore the Universe”. Four smaller circles surround the sphere with the “standard icons” representing Cognitive, Blind, Deaf & Mobility impairments, action implied in each of them. Inspiring Stars written in the lower part of the sphere.

“Inspiring Stars” is a collaborative Initiative in which resources related to astronomy research, communication and development are collected via an open call around the world and combined in a unique interactive exhibition. Inspiring Stars intends to broaden the horizons of children, parents, teachers and astronomers by showcasing assistive research tools and inclusive practices inspiring the love for science and the possibility of contributing to it in spite of apparent hurdles. It aims at elicit a chain reaction of committed engagement for an egalitarian participation of people with disabilities in the field of astronomy.

The IAU considers this exhibit a joint effort seed generated by the community to grow within the community. Being inclusive both in its goals and practices, the exhibition will develop itself along with the environments it visits, assimilating best practices from around the world and highlighting different local initiatives, therefore strengthening global ties between the communities.

The exhibition will premiere during the IAU General Assembly 2018 in Vienna, from 20-31 August, and it will be preceded by an inception activity on April 16, 2018, when the team will visit Vienna meeting local institutions. The motto of the debut experience in August is “Expanding our Universe”, in which the core message is that everyone’s horizons will open up and our lives enriched once we learn from people with disabilities different ways of perceiving the world around us.

Activities

The activities planned for the debut of “Inspiring Stars” are representative of existing global initiatives (identified and gathered through an open call), and will target all types of impairments in three modalities of interaction: collaborative, research and didactic. They will include all levels of engagement: outreach, school, and professional ones.

About IAU

The IAU has more than 10,000 active members in 98 countries worldwide and its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. “Inspiring Stars - IAU inclusive world exhibition” is a joint venture by the IAU Secretariat, the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development and the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach. With “Inspiring Stars” the IAU intends to go further in its existing actions for the promotion of inclusion focusing on the egalitarian participation in Science.

Maria Rosaria D’Antonio is the Head of Administration for the IAU. She worked in the Departmental Staff of the Minister for Scientific and Technological Research in Italy, was Executive Secretary to the President of the Italian Space Agency, as well as being Assistant to the Galileo Programme National Director office of the Under-Secretary of the Council of Minister in Rome. Presently with Lina Canas (OAO) and Wanda Diaz (OAD), she is working on “Inspiring Stars” — an inclusion project and exhibition that will start during the next IAU General Assembly.

Wanda Diaz Merced is from Puerto Rico. She is a PhD in Computer Science and multimodal analysis of Astronomy Data. She has a great interest in developing ways to use the human ability to adapt to the data and her enthusiasm towards heliophysics. She has published numerous scientific publications on the exploration evidenced that the use of sound as an adjunct to visual display increases the sensitivity of traditional astronomers to events that might be masked to the eye.

Lina Canas joined the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in April 2015 as Assistant Outreach Coordinator for the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO), based at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Her main tasks comprise of communications and project management. With a degree in Astronomy and a Masters in Geophysics, Lina Canas has worked for the past twelve years in astronomy outreach and education, dedicating efforts to inclusion and equality in science through outreach and education.