During the last few years, CASCA's education and outreach (E&O) programs have grown considerably, and E&O has occupied a much more visible role in our Society. Thanks to support from NSERC PromoScience and from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, we have created a well-received website (http://www.cascaeducation.ca) for educators, students, and others, and we have hired a part-time (0.2 x FT) education coordinator Heather Scott to maintain and expand our website and guide our other education programs. Thanks to the Westar Corporation, we have the CASCA-Westar Lectureships to bring the excitement of Canadian astronomy to smaller centres across the country. Please familiarize yourself with these initiatives, and help us to publicize them.
Our grant support, however, expires in early 2006, and we want to expand our E&O activities, not cut them back. At CASCA 2005, the Board agreed that we should continue to seek grant support where possible but, keeping in mind that grant application is a time-consuming and unpredictable process, we should also embark on a formal fundraising campaign. We should seek corporate and foundation support, and also support from our own members and friends.
In the US, the National Science Foundation funds a wide variety of E&O activities through its Education Division, and also provides E&O supplements to its research grants. National observatories have visitors' centres, and other E&O activities. NASA funds individual E&O projects, and also maintains E&O programs for each of its space missions. Canada has little or no counterpart to these funding sources. The Long-Range Plan (LRP) for Canadian astronomy, and its mid-term review (MTR) both advocated a "one percent solution" whereby 1-2 percent of funding for major astronomical facilities would be allocated to related E&O. If that were the case, I would hope that a portion of the funds could be allocated to CASCA for general E&O, since CASCA represents the community of professional astronomers and graduate students in Canada -- many of whom are already voluntarily active in E&O.
At CASCA 2005, there were other exciting, positive developments. At a session at the Canadian Space Agency, President Marc Garneau (in response to a question from me) suggested that CASCA and CSA could partner in producing and sharing exemplary E&O material in astronomy. CASCA E&O Committee Vice-Chair Jayanne English spearheaded the development of a draft proposal for a new CASCA E&O initiative, based on her extensive experience with the Hubble Heritage Project, and her experience in dealing with the media: the production of high-quality images, diagrams, and information about Canadian astronomy, in a form which would be maximally useful and effective for Canadian electronic and print media, for planetariums and science centres, and for the many professional and amateur astronomers who give public presentations on astronomy. Such material would be very useful for educators and students as well. In this way, the nature and excitement of Canadian astronomy could be effectively and efficiently communicated to the Canadian public.
Astronomy "communication" is consistent with a major new international movement: a series of conferences on astronomy communication has led to the "Washington charter" which proposes how funding agencies, universities and other institutions, departments, and individual astronomers can effectively contribute to astronomy communication (see http://www.communicatingastronomy.org). They have also led to the formation of a new Working Group in the International Astronomical Union. Dennis Crabtree, (HIA/NRC), is one of the driving forces in this movement.
We therefore propose that CASCA should have two "streams" to its E&O activities: the existing website for educators, and also exemplary material for the public produced and disseminated by a "Virtual Outreach Office for Canadian Astronomy". Our challenge is to continue to develop this proposal for astronomy communication, and to seek funding for both streams.
As we do this, it is important for us to work as partners with the rest of the Canadian astronomy E&O community, lest we work in a vacuum, or duplicate our efforts. To this end, I organized two regional meetings, in Victoria in March, and in Halifax in June. I am grateful to Margaret Milne (DAO/HIA) and David Turner (St. Mary's U.) for hosting these. In both cases, a diverse group of individuals -- 9 in Victoria and 12 in Halifax -- who are knowledgeable and active in local astronomy E&O discussed local activities and needs. A wide variety of stakeholders were represented: HIA/NRC, universities and colleges, schools, science centres, RASC Centres and other local clubs. In both cases, these groups appreciated the opportunity to meet together, and make their ideas known, and they expressed an interest in meeting more often. I particularly appreciated the opportunity to interact more closely with the RASC, which plays a major role in Canadian E&O. A similar "local network" has existed in the Greater Toronto Area for several years, and has been useful in coordinating GTA astronomy E&O activities.
We will also be organizing a meeting and/or teleconference of key national partners from CASCA, RASC, NSERC, NRC, CSA, national observational facilities, planetariums and science centres, schools, and the media, in order to develop the plan for our new outreach initiative These are the suppliers, users, and potential supporters of our initiative, so it is important for us to work together throughout this exciting project.
Any comments or suggestions about any of the above would be greatly appreciated. Also names and acronyms for the two streams in our E&O program -- the education website and program, and the virtual outreach office for Canadian astronomy!
John R. Percy (jpercy@utm.utoronto.ca)