The IAU Under One Sky Call for Proposals supports projects that use cultural astronomy, astronomy outreach, and astronomy communication to recognize Indigenous knowledge and respect Indigenous learning systems with a rights-based approach to Indigenous learning. Selected projects will receive grants of up to 2000 euros to engage in activities on and around the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August 2022). This programme is a legacy from the IAU100 celebrations and is made possible through the generous support of Leiden Observatory (the Netherlands) and the NWO Communication Award 2020. 

The selected projects for 2022 will reach Indigenous communities all over the world. They will connect Indigenous with non-Indigenous knowledge, span remote communities to urban centres, and build multidisciplinary resources for the public to further engage with their astronomical traditions. We are proud to present the 2022 Under One Sky awardees below.

Project: Guaraní Ethno-Astronomy in the Argentinian Northwest
Organizers: Women of the Yaguar Rogu + Organization, Cuariño Ge Zenta Ava-guaraní Community, and National University of Salta
The Guaraní Ethno-Astronomy in the Argentinian Northwest project is centred on Guaraní ethnoastronomy and their myths of the Sun and the Moon. The project will study and systematise this knowledge and convert, translate, and write them as pedagogical materials in the cultural context and language of the Guaraní people of the Oran, Pichanal and Hipólito Yrigoyen regions in the province of Salta, Argentina. In the form of a digital booklet and video, the project's pedagogical materials will be produced in Guarani and Spanish and will be disseminated in the different schools of the region.

Project: Sky and People of Maumere
Organisers: PASTRON, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, IKIP Muhammadiyah Maumere, and Universitas Ahmad Dahlan
The Tidung Bajo, Lio, and the Sikka-Krowe peoples from the Sikka Regency in Indonesia share a deep connection to the sea and the use of the night skies for navigation and guidance. The Sky and People of Maumere project will connect the traditional astronomical and environmental knowledge of the Tidung Bajo, Lio, and the Sikka-Krowe peoples with climate education and activism, including light pollution, while bringing the sky and the astronomical knowledge of elders to the younger generation. Starting with night sky observation and light pollution measurement events, the project will produce a local astronomy vocabulary book and initiate a climate activist campaign.

Project: Urban Indigenous Art and Culture in Rio de Janeiro
Organisers: Aldeia Maracanã, Casa da Tia Ciata, Observatory of Valongo, and Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Aldeia Maracanã is a multicultural urban aldeia (village) in Brazil, where Indigenous knowledge and traditions are shared through songs, conversation circles, music and the exchange of knowledge, including in seminars and conferences. The Urban Indigenous Art and Culture project in Rio de Janeiro will collect the history of Aldeia Maracanã and translate songs about the sky into a virtual book, which will be freely accessible to teachers, students, and citizens of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and of the world.

Project: Intercultural Dialogues on Cosmology. Gazing with the Heart Under One Sky.
Organisers: Teyrungumu Apolinar Torres and Aída del Pilar Becerra on behalf of AguaMaestra collective. 
The Intercultural Dialogues on Cosmology. Gazing with the Heart Under One Sky project will put forward an intercultural dialogue of Colombia’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge of cosmologies and environmental sustainability from a collective rights approach. They will make the Arhuaco Indigenous people’s knowledge, as well as their pedagogical and pragmatic actions for mitigating the environmental crisis, visible through a multimedia campaign. 

Project: Under Iran Sky Programme
Organisers: Under Iran Sky Initiative, IAU OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinator Team for Iran, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Kurdistan, Saros Science Communication Team, Charkh Science TV programme. 
The Under Iran Sky Programme will bring together Indigenous science communicators, educators, astronomers, linguists and various researchers and practitioners to develop and disseminate educational resources for Indigenous astronomical knowledge. It will also organise training workshops and instructive courses to educate students and learners through cultural exchanges.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

The IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) is a joint project of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The mission of the OAO is to engage the public in astronomy through access to astronomical information and communication of the science of astronomy. This is implemented through a network of IAU National Outreach Coordinators (NOCs) and the IAU’s public engagement initiatives. The work of the OAO is about building bridges between the IAU and the global astronomy community of amateur astronomers, outreach professionals, educators, communicators, and the general public, and through international collaboration, to make the science of astronomy accessible to all.

Links

• Under One Sky Call for Proposals
• United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
• IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach
• Leiden University

Contacts

Suzana Filipecki Martins
OAO International Outreach Officer
Tel: +31 644 0701 53 
Email: suzana.filipecki@oao.iau.org  

Pedro Russo
Astronomy & Society Group & Dep. of Science Communication & Society
Leiden University
Email: russo@strw.leidenuniv.nl 

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Director of Communications
Cell: +1 520 461 0433/+49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars.christensen@noirlab.edu