New Opportunities for Cooperation in a Globalizing World: The National Space Biomedical Research Institute Educational Outreach Program Provides a Model

Paper number

IAC-10,A1,8,1,x6825

Author

Dr. Marlene MacLeish, United States

Year

2010

Abstract

Globalization is creating a more interdependent world and providing collaborative approaches for space life sciences educational outreach. These approaches include: partnerships with emerging space nations; opportunities to use information technologies to disseminate existing material to new audiences, including the “IPod” generation; creation of indigenous materials that have cultural resonance for new global partners; alignment of new educational products and processes to ensure maximum global outreach and judicious use of scarce education resources. 

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) have sustained a thirteen-year space education consortium that supports space life sciences research and knowledge transfer to students, educators and general audiences. Recently, this consortium expanded its educational outreach portfolio to include international collaborations in support of a global vision for space exploration education. This vision promotes multicultural understanding of the impact of space exploration on society, including innovative science education to prepare the next generation of students for progress in a borderless, 21st century workplace. 
	
This paper briefly describes the design and achievements of the NSBRI’s educational programs; professional interchanges with audiences in Austria, Canada, Greece, Italy, Scotland, Spain, Korea, and Africa; and reports on recent engagement with the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) to design a global space life science educational outreach model that strengthens space sciences education and promotes public understanding of the benefits of space exploration for health and life on Earth. The IAA brings well established organizational arrangements and worldwide leverage to coordinate shared experiences, craft effective program designs and promote an effective “global voice” for   space life sciences educational outreach. 
	
The NSBRI-NASA-MSM consortium’s international educational mission is premised on the belief that a concerted call to action from education decision makers around the world to engage teachers, learners, and ordinary citizens in activities that communicate how space exploration can help global societies overcome 21st century challenges and coexist peacefully, is timely.  The 61th International Astronautical Congress:  Space for Human Benefit and Exploration will provide a unique forum for garnering feedback to refine and propel these strategies for international life sciences education and public engagement in space exploration.

Abstract document

IAC-10,A1,8,1,x6825.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-10.A1.8.1.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.