Astronomy education projects in Reunion Island: an overview of past, recent and upcoming activities; Astronomy education projects on Reunion Island: an overview of past, present and future activities

Authors

Renaud, Matthieu; Perrigault, Sylvie; Boyer, Sébastien; K-Bidi, Ludovic; Dandin, Lise-Marie; Le Floc’h, Emeric; Challéat, Samuel + 3

Contributors

Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier (LUPM); Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM); Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de La Réunion (OSU-Réunion); Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Météo-France; Observatoire de l'environnement nocturne (OEN); Géographie de l'environnement (GEODE); Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J); Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J); Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut Ecologie et Environnement - CNRS Ecologie et Environnement (INEE-CNRS); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut des Sciences Humaines et Sociales - CNRS Sciences humaines et sociales (INSHS-CNRS); CNRS/MITI AAP "Osez l'Interdisciplinarité !" 2024-2026, projet LOREN; IAU (International Astronomical Union) + 13

Published in

GA 2024: XXXII IAU General Assembly, Session of the Office of Astronomy for E... >

Publisher

CCSD

Abstract

International audience ; For over thirty years, Les Makes Astronomical Observatory in Reunion island, a French overseas department about 700 km East of Madagascar and part of the Mascarenes Archipelago, has been dedicated to outreach activities, school-designed pedagogical and remote research programs in general astronomy. After summarizing its historical achievements, we will present the recent projects developed for teachers, primary and secondary schools, and at the University level, with a particular emphasis on participatory sciences. We will discuss the OAE-supported Teacher Training Program (TTP22) and the associated pedagogical projects which have been carried out in relation with the preservation of the night sky, considered as a natural environment with an important cultural dimension, that needs to be preserved from the ever-growing light pollution. We will then discuss on how these starry-sky-based programs have the potential to increase the awareness among the participants regarding the light pollution issue and could open up to further interdisciplinary projects on the nocturnal environment. Future developments, especially within the recently-founded laboratory of citizen sciences LASCAR (LAboratoire de Sciences Citoyennes pour l’Académie et la Région Réunion), through the setting of research programs dedicated to secondary schools in order to exploit the on-site instruments data, will also be presented.