In only four days, on 15 July, the deadline for abstracts for the Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2011 Conference (CAP 2011) expires. CAP 2011 takes place between 10 and 14 October 2011 at the Xiyuan Hotel in Beijing, China.
Public Information Officers, educators, science communicators, journalists and bloggers and professional and amateur astronomers are invited to register and chose between presenting a poster or giving a talk on a topic that addresses one or more of the conference’s themes:
● Social media for astronomy outreach
● Media relations in the digital age
● Audiovisual & multimedia communication incl. tools and techniques
● Crowdsourcing/citizen science projects
● The role of science centres, planetariums and observatories
● Alternative ways for communicating astronomy with the public
● The challenges of the digital era
● Amateur Astronomers: An army to astronomy outreach
● Using astronomy outreach to excite children with science and technology
● Evaluation of outreach projects
● Social impact of astronomy communication
● Astronomy communication in the developing world
● Communicating across national, language, political, social and cultural borders
● The legacy of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009)
The 2011 Communicating Astronomy with the Public conference will focus on how to bring science to the people of today and tomorrow. With online platforms boosting with popularity and traffic, there is a whole world building up in the social media and the overall online territory, a world where individuals become opinion leaders by owning and sharing information. We need to embrace this revolution in communication.
At the same time, the IAU has started the implementation of the decadal plan entitled “Astronomy for the Developing World”. This plan, built on the legacy of IYA2009, brings new opportunities and challenges for communicating astronomy across the globe, with emphasis on the developing world.
For those who wish to join CAP2011 only as participants, the registration deadline is 1 September. Details about fees, programme, accommodation, transport and other practical information can be found at: http://www.communicatingastronomy.org/cap2011/index.html
Remember that China requires a VISA to visit for most countries and so you need to ensure that this is coordinated with the LOC, who will be able to issue letters of invitation for visa purposes. Therefore, registering early is strongly encouraged.
To stay in touch with the latest news connect with CAP 2011, you can join our mailing list here. We will also be present on Twitter using the hashtag #CAP2011
Links
● CAP2011
● IAU Commission 55
