See how astronomers, science communicators and teachers put astronomy in the daily lives of children and their families
O CoAstro had the privilege of being the focus of episode 2181 of the programme ‘90 segundos de ciência’ (90 seconds of science).
This is a programme on Antena 1 (Portuguese public radio station) that gives Portuguese researchers 90 seconds to speak: Monday to Friday, twice a day! It was awarded with the Ciência Viva Media 2025 Prize; the Podes Prize (2023) and the Gulbenkian Knowledge Prize (2019).
Thus, for CoAstro, this was one a high recognition by the Portuguese national media.
CoAstro appeared in Quito, Ecuador, to present “Citizen Science in School Contexts: A Path toward the Democratization of Access to Science.”
It was featured on the panel “Ciencia ciudadana y participativa: experiencias y metodologías“, at the Congreso Iberoamericano de Ciencia Abierta.
The goal of this Congress was to create an Ibero-American space for dialogue between Academia, the State, and Civil Society on the right to science and on the importance of promoting transformations in the way science is understood.
TheEncontro Nacional de Ciência Cidadã 2025, took plance in the Templo da Poesia – Oeiras.
With the theme “Communities, Equity, and Social Justice”, CoAstro joined the “Education” panel, which took place in the evocative “Sala Camões”.
In this context, CoAstro had the opportunity to present “Citizen Science in Schools as a Path toward the Democratization of Access to Science” — the title of the communication, whose abstract can be found HERE.
The Condo Administrator was himself a member of the Organizing Committee.
In 2025, the“Con(s)ciência – um condomínio científico“ chose the municipality of Murtosa for its intervention: the municipality “between the lagoon and the sea,” with over 82% of its territory included in the Ria de Aveiro special protection zone.
In this municipality, the main goal was to reach audiences distanced from science (not just astronomy, but using it as a gateway science to learn about other scientific fields), not by choice, but because they had no opportunity to engage with it (and therefore do not truly know it).
This initiative, which began in 2023 in the municipalities of Boticas and Ribeira de Pena, resulted from the analysis of various indicators that allowed us to identify the Portuguese municipalities (pp. 99 to 103) with the lowest spontaneous engagement with astronomy.
The goal was to create a space for sharing experiences and ideas on how citizen science projects can contribute in practical and inspiring ways to astronomy education in schools, universities, and communities — especially in Portuguese-speaking countries.
In this context, CoAstro had the privilege of opening the session, proudly wearing the Portuguese jersey… quite literally! You can watch it all HERE.
CoAstro had the honor of being invited as a speaker at the “Annual Meeting of the European Astronomical Society”.
This year, the event took place from June 23rd to 27th at University College Cork, in Ireland.
CoAstro took part in the panel “Reimagining Astronomy Education in Europe“, which aimed to provide an opportunity to reflect on the current state of astronomy education across Europe and explore strategies for the future. The session brought together experts and educators to examine the challenges and opportunities facing astronomy education today.
The goal was to assess how astronomy is taught at different educational levels, discuss the role of international collaborations, and identify ways to strengthen and expand astronomy education in primary and secondary schools. t was also a great opportunity to share innovative educational strategies.
On May 10th, CoAstro put in a day’s work… and what a journey it was!
Not in the fields, nor with manual labor — this time, the work was online.
That day, CoAstro was featured at the “4th Science Communication Journeys“, organized by the students and faculty of the Master’s in Science Communication at the University of Minho, during the Citizen Science Showcase, which began at 2:45 PM.
The session explored examples, opportunities, and challenges arising from the use of new technologies to engage the public in the scientific process.
In CoAstro’s case, the invitation aimed to understand how astronomy, as a scientific field, benefits from public collaboration through digital platforms — and what impacts (both positive and negative) have been observed in the relationship between digital participation in the project and scientific literacy among school audiences.
On March 25th, between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM, CoAstro was… raffled off!
Well, not literally. On that day, CoAstro was one of the featured projects at a training event organized by the “Portuguese Society of Educational Sciences” (SPCE), cleverly named RIFA (raffled in Portuguese) — standing for Reflection, Investigation, Training, Action, Sustainability (in Portuguese: Reflexão, Investigação, Formação, Ação, Sustentáveis).
Under the theme “Open Science and Opportunities for Education”, this Short-Term Training Action (ACD), officially recognized for teachers’ career progression, brought together a panel of four speakers. The materials they presented — including those from CoAstro — can be found HERE.
In 2025, CoAstro turns out into a book section in the “Ciência Cidadã na Educação em Ciências“, formally presented on 29 January.
This work, by Professora Carla Morais, makes possible, in the author’s words, to ‘present a characterisation of citizen science and reflect on its potential and challenges for Science Education in formal and non-formal contexts’.
CoAstro is so well that portrayed in the book: many thanks for this to Professora Carla Morais.
Almost three decades since the creation of Ciência Viva (CV), several studies, scientific articles, dissertations and theses have been published that contain essential elements for reflection on CV’s activity and its impact on Portuguese society.
In December 2024, the Agência Nacional Ciência Viva organised the first meeting between the authors of these academic works, entitled ‘The Science of Ciência Viva’.
Obviously CoAstro couldn’t miss it: it was part of Session 4 – Citizen science and public participation. This intervention can be seen at 4:25:24 of the video available HERE. In the same video, at 10:46, there was another intervention by the Condo Administrator, on the Educational Programme of the Porto Planetarium.