The 3rd edition of the Italian National Space Day was celebrated in Ethiopia in the presence of the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, the Ambassador of Italy, H. E. Agostino Palese and the Director of the ICAA, Semen Kumurzhi.
It was an articulated program of initiatives, developed together with INAF – Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, University of Bologna and Europlanet 2024, mostly aimed at the young generation of researchers and more generally at young people:
– International conference “Exploring the Field of Astrobiology” (curated by Barbara Cavalazzi, Full Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Bologna), held in a hybrid format with the participation of young scientists from numerous research centers and universities in various regions of the Ethiopia and 11 other countries in the African continent: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia;
– Exhibition “The Italian Spaceway. Towards IAC 2024 Milan”, prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation together with the monthly magazine “Focus” and the organizing committee of the International Astronautical Congress 2024;
– An organic schedule of innovative teaching activities (curated by Federico di Giacomo, INAF – Astronomical Observatory of Padua) for the students of the Italian School in Addis Ababa:
– Multimedia workshops “Stars in Perspective” and “The Sun in a Box”;
– Educational workshop and “Astrotombola” quiz game for the little ones;
– Seminar “Galileo Galilei and his treatise «The Assayer» (1624) which revolutionized science” (on the occasion of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the publication).
