Author: STEFANIA VARANO
Affiliation: ITALIAN NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ASTROPHYSICS
Country: ITALY
Title: THE IMPARTIALITY OF THE UNIVERSE
Modern astronomy is a “democratic” and fair science. We all, regardless of our culture or abilities, feel curious and fascinated when thinking about the Universe. Furthermore, with regards to sensorial abilities, modern astronomical observations are impartial because they are mainly made of numbers, representing the physical features of the observed object. Those numbers are often converted into visuals. Indeed, they could be converted into any attribute of any representation, perhaps sensorial stimuli in multisensorial representation, offering an effective common ground for inclusion and equity (1).
In Italy, the outreach and education office of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is much concerned in designing and creating brand new inclusive outreach and educational practices, with the essential help of experts and disabled people. Besides significant efforts for the inclusion of physical and sensory impairments, we have also started important actions aimed at easing social and cultural inclusion (2). These activities need attentive design and step-by-step evaluation, in order to prevent the unconscious introduction of barriers of any kind (3). We have started many fruitful partnerships, both with the capillary and vast national network of amateur astronomers, and with educators and tutors for specific disabilities, the results of which we are proud to share with the international community.
References
[1]: 7) Varano S., “Far from reality”, in “Communicating astronomy with the public conference 2018 – Communicating Astronomy in Today’s World: Purpose & Methods”, pp 309-310, 2018.
[2]: World Bank (2013). Inclusion Matters: The Foundation for Shared Prosperity. Washington, DC: World Bank. ISBN 978-1-4648-0010-8.
[3]: Mace R.L Hardie G.J., Place J. P., 1991, Accessible Environments: Toward Universal Design, The Centre for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.