Astronomy Club promotes a new look at the skies and streets of Recife

Recife, Brazil 17 January 2023 - A new addition to the interesting neighbourhoods of Recife in north east Brazil is the astronomy club at the Elementary School Senador Antônio Farias, located in Ibura, a peripheral community in the city

Started on 6 December 2022, the Astronomy Club has given  students and residents the chance to enjoy the stars, planets, and other celestial bodies.

The initiative came from astrophysicist and professor Antônio Carlos Miranda, from the Physics Department of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), after meeting student Yasmin Bernardo during the recording of the documentary "Feet on the ground, window to the sky", produced by UN-Habitat.

The film was inspired by the discussions held during the workshops on Designing Public Spaces, a participative methodology of UN-Habitat implemented in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

"In a territory located in a hillside area, which historically suffers from tragedies related to landslides, where the ground literally falls, we found unusual the desire for the installation of lunettes for astronomical observation in a public space. Yasmin was the one who presented the suggestion, and by the acceptance of the class, we noticed that the interest in astronomy was shared with other classmates.

This was how we got closer to the young girl and based on her ingenious ideas, we tried to demonstrate a series of possible connections between public space and outer space", explains the co-director of the documentary, Bia Paes.  

The documentary also addresses the importance of the protagonism of youth in the planning, elaboration, and decision-making of the city's public spaces. Through the story of Yasmin it is possible to access, at the same time, a perspective that is already critical of the reality in which she lives, as well as creative and inventive ways to overcome limitations imposed by social inequalities, urban violence, among other elements that prevent young people like her from fully experiencing what the city has to offer.

"Liking astronomy wasn't something that came overnight. You look at the sky, you see how beautiful and full of discovery it is, and then you look at the Earth. As much as it looks different, they are very much the same. Differences things also match, everybody knows that. So why not make it beautiful here too? Astronomy makes me want to live in a better place and bring the best here," says Yasmin.

The documentary is available on UN-Habitat Brazil YouTube channel.

The equipment belongs to UFRPE and will be loaned to the school for the development of the Astronomy Club. The initiative includes an agenda for training monitors with basic notions of astronomy; workshops for assembling rockets and solar observation masks; and an astronomical appreciation calendar at night and on weekends. All the group's activities are open to the community.   

"We want to stretch the frontiers of the University and bring science closer to the people, in their territories. With Yasmin's interest and the school's enthusiasm, I am sure that the materials will be put to very good use," explains Miranda.  

The launching of the Astronomy Club took place during the feedback events of the Workshop on Designing Public Spaces, a moment that promotes a meeting with workshop participants to present the systematized results, as well as to collect impressions about the shared material.

"Pernambuco Cooperation: Prevention, Citizenship and Safety" is a technical cooperation signed between UN-Habitat, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Igarapé Institute, and the Secretariat for Violence and Drug Prevention Policies of Pernambuco (SPVD) to generate data, produce qualified information, and contribute to the strengthening of social crime and violence prevention policies in the state.  

The Designing Public Spaces workshops and the Women's Safety Audits (Women's City) were the two participative methodologies offered by UN-Habitat in order to get to know the perspectives of young people and women about the feeling of insecurity in public spaces, and to access their ideas and proposals for solutions and improvements.