On 6 May 2017, EU Space Awareness hosted a walk-in workshop at the EU Open Doors Event in Brussels, Belgium. The European Parliament opened its doors during its open day event to celebrate Europe Day on May 9th, which attracted thousands of visitors from many ages and nations. The workshop also caught interest from EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas.

Space Awarenes was invited by the European Commission to be part of the EU Research and Innovation stand for the EU Open Doors on 6 May 2017. The stand was called ‘EU Science all around the clock!’ and presented nine EU research projects to illustrate how science is part of everyday life. Space Awareness showed families where dreams can take you, by hosting activities that focused on imagination, design, and changing perspectives.

Representatives of the Space Awareness project Denzel Ignacia and Michael de Korte (Leiden University) welcomed hundreds of visitors to the walk-in astronomy workshop, aided by resources from the Universe in a Box and the Earth Ball. The project was received very well by children, parents, teachers and the general public. And also the elderly, like the 80-year old Anna, who wondered about the beginning of the Universe and quantum mechanics and said, “Space is amazing!”.

The Space Awareness workshop also caught interest from EU Commissioner Carlos Moedas, whom visited the workshop to learn about space, constellations, signs and perspectives. You can take a look at his visit on the following video (around min 7:32).

With its endorsement of the Space Awareness project and this Open Day, the European Commission has provided a great platform for public engagement using space. Around 12,000 people visited this year’s Open Day, meaning great exposure for the Space Awareness project activities.

For pictures of the Space Awareness activities during the EU Open Day 2017 click here.