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Tell us what you think! The 2023 IDL event organiser survey.
The International Day of Light secretariat is constantly striving to support international partners who wish to organise events, and to provide as many helpful resources as possible. Since 2018, over 2200 events have taken place in more than 85 countries around the world, ranging from small events in classrooms, to large citizen science initiatives and global awareness-raising campaigns. But we always want to improve and make sure that we are responding to the needs of our mostly volunteer organisers, and so we have prepared a very brief survey with some simple questions. It should only take 5 minutes of your time to fill out, and we will be grateful for all feedback and suggestions. Please click on this link to open the survey window.
Contact
Geethu Paulose
IDL Communications Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
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Leiden turns off its lights for Seeing Stars.
On 25 September 2022 for a brief period of 90 minutes, the city of Leiden was plunged into darkness in an attempt to see a night sky full of stars for the first time in decades. Ironically, while Leiden has a longstanding tradition for excellent research in astronomy, it is also one of the most light-polluted cities in the world. A collaboration between Leiden municipality, Leiden University, Studio Roosegaarde, and UNESCO set out to bring back the stars by turning off as many lights as possible. Thousands of people went outside into the streets to experience their city as they never had before. Although a partially cloudy sky prevented citizens from enjoying a completely unencumbered view of the cosmos, there were enough clear gaps to appreciate the darkness. The event left many wondering: "Why don’t we do this more often?" You can read more here.
Contact
Naor Scheinowitz
Manager Old Observatory, Leiden University
[email protected]
Image Credits: Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde enjoying the view from Leiden's Old Observatory. Credit: Dirk van Egmond
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IDL activities of the Network for Astronomy School Education.
The Network for Astronomy School Education (NASE) is a working group of the International Astronomical Union's Key Initiatives in Education, Outreach and Development program. NASE volunteers work in cities around the world to promote actions of education in all astronomy-related areas, and have been regular participants in organising International Day of Light activities. In particular, all NASE participants and instructors are encouraged to organise an event which is simple but of great educational value
Although the International Day of Light itself is on 16 May, NASE participants organise events throughout the full half-year period between the March and September equinoxes. This has several advantages, specifically avoiding the rainy season in many countries, and also allowing teachers to develop an extended programme of activities organised over several months.
NASE global activities since 2018 can be reviewed on their website where you can learn about their themes of Measuring the Invisible (2018), determining the Power of the Sun (2019), online activities through Parallel Earth (2020) and Infrared and Music (2021). In 2022, the initiative aimed at explaning how a "silk road" emerges between two parallels, enabling travel between cities that are more or less on the same latitude, or navigation technique to determine latitude using the sun as used by Columbus, as well as Magellan and Elcano (whose circumnavigation celebrated its 500th anniversary in 2022.) The 2022 activity began with a conference on Bridges between cultures in March, and concluded with a conference in September.
For 2023, NASE is mobilizing its international community with a new global project connected with micrometeorites. While large meteorites do occasionally fall to Earth, such events are rare. On the other hand, micrometeorites (of submillimeter size) fall to earth every day, and can be found using methods such as magnetic collection and filtering of dirt and debris from rooftops. The 2023 IDL programme of NASE will include micrometeorite collection, followed by detection and classification using a microscope made with a cell phone. The broader topic of the fundamental origin of life in the framework of the panspermia theory will also be discussed.
Contact
Beatriz García, ITeDAM (CNEA-CONICET-UNSAM)
[email protected]
Rosa Ros, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
[email protected]
Image Credits: NASE activities studying how to measure latitude with a quadrant and the sun in Iran and Tanzania (NASE).
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International logos in 36 languages
Thanks to help from our many volunteers, we have the International Day of Light logo available in 36 languages! Please see our resources page for downloads. Remember to click on "Show More" to see the full range that is available.
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Optical care and affordable eyeglasses
According to the World Health Organisation, 100s of millions of people around the world are in need of glasses, but cannot afford them or have no access to even the most basic diagnostics of eyesight and vision problems. This has major consequences for all age groups: children have trouble reading and following lessons on blackboards, and adults cannot work and care for their families. In 2012, OneDollarGlasses was formed by Martin Aufmuth as a social enterprise, aiming to use innovative and simple approaches to produce quality and low cost eyeglasses suitable for a developing or emerging country context. The technology uses spring-steel wire frames and prefabricated clip-in lenses with a material cost of around only 1 US dollar. OneDollarGlasses (EinDollarBrille e.V.) now acts as a parent organisation for individual national partners who work under the common umbrella of GoodVision. Since its founding, eyeglasses have been provided to more than 100,000 people worldwide in ten countries in Africa, Asia and South America.
Contact
Martin Aufmuth
EinDollarBrille e.V. Nonprofit
[email protected]
Image Credits: GoodVision and Jakob Neundorfer
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It's never too early to start planning!
Even though 16 May 2023 is over 3 months away, it is always a good idea to make plans early. Please make use of our Quick Guide for event organisation which includes many useful tips and pointers, and check out our Resources page on the website for more ideas. And if there is anything you think you might need where we can help, just ask! Also, if you already have an idea of what you will be planning, please register it on our event submission page. And finally, if you want to get some ideas for events, please review our event listing archive or newsletter archives which are freely available to be consulted. |
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Supporting education at all levels in Pakistan.
Education is a major priority in Pakistan's efforts to improve its societal and economic development, and there is a particular focus on eradicating gender disparity. Although the status of women has improved in recent years, gender imbalance remains persistent, and by grade nine (14-15 years old), only around 13% of young women are still enrolled in school. Outreach to school-age students (especially girls) has been carried out for many years by the Active learning in Optics (ALO) group of the Department of Physics of Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, and ALO members are enthusiastically involved in many different programmes of hands-on activities. These are carried out with support from the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) as well as the societies Optica and SPIE who generously provide advice and teaching materials. These programmes have now seen in-class outreach to more than 14 schools in Pakistan, reaching many hundreds of students.
In addition to programmes in schools, the ALO group has also initiated a formal series of seminars and other activities targeted to experienced researchers through the creation of an alumni network for Pakistan scientists who have had links with ICTP. This Pak-ICTP Alumni Society aims to nurture research collaborations, organize scientific outreach activities, provide career and vocational mentorship, and help to develop active academic linkages between Pakistani and Italian educational institutes.
Contact:
Imrana Ashraf, Quaid-i-Azam University
[email protected]
Image Credits: Imrana Ashraf, Quaid-i-Azam University
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Reminder! We are archiving the IYL 2015 Website & Blog.
The website of the International Year of Light 2015 will shortly be available in archive form only from mid-March 2023, and the original domain will point to the welcome page of the International Day of Light site. Archiving will ensure the permanent record of the many events and achievements during 2015 and 2016, but since archived sites can sometimes be slower to navigate, we would encourage you all to explore the original site in the coming months and make sure that you extract any material, text, and resources that may seem useful to your activities in education and outreach.
Also note that as part of the International Year of Light in 2015, volunteers from around the world wrote a year long blog, with contributions on a host of topics related to light and its many applications in science, technology, and culture. This blog contains some remarkable entries and (with due recognition of the source) can be freely used for educational and non-profit activities. It can be accessed at the direct link here and the best way to navigate it is to scroll to the bottom of the page and then browse by month or by category.
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