Astronomy is, on its own right, a high interest subject with vast implications in our societies. Throughout History we used the sky to navigate the oceans, to decide when to plant crops and to answer life enigmas. More recently, technological advances such as GPS or wireless internet have astronomy to thank to (Renée James, 2012). Today we witness a new “space race” between world powers such as the US and China, competing for the benefits of Space exploration. The EU cannot, therefore, stay behind in the astronomy and space fields, and political and economic decision makers seem now more determined to place Europe in the forefront of this race. The European Space Agency (ESA), founded in 1975 with the UK and France as 2 of the founding members, is going to benefit from a significant budget increase over the next years. And even Portugal and Greece, members of ESA since 2000 and 2005, respectively, have recently created their own Space Agencies and are looking to Space explorations more strategically. Portugal, for instance, is setting a satellite launching base in the Azores Islands. This renewed interest in Space is bound to create new businesses and jobs in astronomy-related fields, for which Europe will be needing qualified people. As such, Astronomy, can no longer be viewed as only elite training for future scientists or engineers, but an essential scientific and technological field to prepare people to be actively engaged in societal issues and in new careers and jobs related to Space exploration. The project SpaceGuardians 2 follows a previous project – SpaceGuardians – which aimed to improve Astronomy Literacy next to pre-school children through interactive ebooks. The success of the project, namely the way it was welcomed, was pivotal to the decision of proposing a follow-up project, now aimed at primary school level. The main goal of the project is to develop a playful learning approach for Astronomy Education at primary school level, set upon 3 main deliverables: • a learning framework for Astronomy Education at primary school level, that schools and educators can use to engage Astronomy topics • a boardgame with Astronomy-related contents, featuring digital elements and a space-themed construction kit, to create a memorable and meaningful learning experience • workshops on Astronomy for teachers, trainers, parents and children, capable of generating impact and encouraging new initiatives on Astronomy Education This initiative gathers 6 partners from the UK, France, Greece and Portugal: • Civic Computing is a digital strategy agency with vast expertise in the development of bespoke applications and tools that is investing in new services for educational publishers and in children's books • Advancis (Portugal): private company that provides consultancy and training services in Education and People Development, with competences in curricula development, storytelling in education, ICT based learning methodologies, among others • BOON (Portugal): private company that provides services in design and illustration. • Platon schools (Kindergarten – Elementary – Gymnasium – Lyceum) is a modern educational institution with 530 learners and 83 staff. • AKNOW is a is a technical implementation and staff sourcing company providing highly skilled ICT services and staff to organisations, with a track record on educational activities. • Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille is a joint research unit of the CNRS-INSU and of the Université d'Aix-Marseille (AMU), that undertakes research in astrophysics and instrumentation.
As mentioned in the answer above, the main objective of Space Guardians 2 (SG2) is to teach and prepare primary school students about Astronomy concepts, using a playful approach. This was made possible thanks to the results created during the project life: the SG2’s partners indeed developed a fully functional board game, conceptualised on the story of the Space Guardians, which were introduced during the first Space Guardians project, a learning framework for Astronomy Education at primary school level, that schools and educators can use to engage Astronomy topics and finally, workshops on Astronomy for teachers, trainers, parents and children, capable of generating impact and encouraging new initiatives on Astronomy Education. All these results combined would enhance the main project aim, which, as mentioned before, is to teach children about Astronomy and prepare them to approach this incredible scientific and technological field.
The rationale behind the creation of the project Space Guardians 2 is the increasing interested in astronomy-related studies from a younger age. Space Guardians 2 is the follow up project of Space Guardians, concluded successfully in 2020, which aimed to improve Astronomy Literacy of pre-school children through the development of interactive ebooks. Space Guardians 2 is now aimed at primary school level. Space exploration nowadays is a very important topic, fundamental to determine world’s powers and dynamics. Countries such as China and US already compete for the benefits of Space exploration. However, since the foundation of The European Space Agency (ESA) in 1975, Europe is also trying to place itself forefront in this field. With members such as France, UK, Greece and also Portugal, ESA is creating a renewed interest in Space, which is bound to create new businesses and jobs in astronomy-related fields, for which Europe will be needing qualified people. As such, Astronomy, can no longer be viewed as only elite training for future scientists or engineers, but an essential scientific and technological field to prepare people to be actively engaged in societal issues and in new careers and jobs related to Space exploration.