Report on the IHY Education Subcommittee Meeting (held on 19 February 2007 at the United Nations in Vienna)

The Outreach and Education Program for IHY has the following objectives:
   - inspiring the next generation of Space and Earth scientists and explorers
   - spreading the knowledge of our solar system and the exciting process of scientific exploration to the people of the world.

There is already in place a wide variety of outreach and education activities related to Space and Earth Science. We would like to see all of them come together to celebrate the International Heliophysical Year in 2007.

The IHY Outreach and Education Program will focus on: developing new and exciting outreach programs that provide unique opportunities for the global community; increasing the visibility and accessibility of existing outreach programs; developing partnerships between existing programs and activities to broaden their scope and impact; determining the need for multi-lingual adaptations of educational resources and facilitating their translation.

Why be part of IHY? The IHY is an exceptional opportunity for the existing programs to expand their scope, making them more visible and increasing their impact worldwide.

What does it mean to be a participating program? Click here.

How to participate: To begin coordinating your program with IHY, please go to the Program Coordination Page.

Because our team is globally based, and because we have developed the IHY program in conjunction with the United Nations, a key goal of the IHY outreach program is the expand current outreach programs on a global scale. Therefore, a significant amount of effort will be dedicated to the translation and adaptation of existing educational resources into new languages. Our team members will work towards making heliophysics accessible to all the peoples of the world. You can read more about IHY Multi-lingual resources.

The IHY Outreach and Education Program is being developed in close coordination with the other three components of IHY:

SCIENCE: As there are hundreds of observatories and institutions worldwide preparing for IHY scientific activities and many of them have outreach and education programs, they are being linked in an unprecedented way. Additionally, many IHY scientists are volunteering their time and resources to bring new and exciting scientific results to the people of the world.

OBSERVATORY DEVELOPMENT: The IHY/United Nations Observatory Development is dedicated to the establishment of activities in all 191 United Nations Member States. The program focuses on deploying instrumentation and encouraging Space and Earth Science activities worldwide. A strong educational component to these activities is vital to their success. An example of this connection is the AWESOME Space Weather Monitor program.

HISTORY: The IGY Gold History Program recognizes all the scientists in the world who worked for IGY 1957 programs and works to preserve the history of the IGY for future generations. Public outreach activities include spreading the knowledge of space science and exploration to the public and historical awareness programs.

 

ORGANIZATION