The exhibition Space for Our Planet
comes to Portugal this month
Lisbon will host the road show from 22 April to 22 May. The Portuguese Space Agency is one of the main promoters of the exhibition,
together with the United Nations, the European Commission and ESA.
The Space for Our Planet project arrives in Portugal on 22 April, the World Earth Day. The exhibition and multimedia platform, which focuses on the role that Space plays in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, will be on display at the Sul-Sueste Station (Terreiro do Paço) until 22 May. The exhibition aims to show how Space provides innovative solutions and contributes to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The exhibition was created in 2021 and has been shown in some of the world’s main capitals, such as New York, Brussels and Paris, and associated with major strategic events, such as Expo Dubai, now arriving in Portugal with the support of the Lisbon Municipal Council.
Over a period of one month, the project will be at one of the access points to the capital showing real testimonies from academics, fishermen, astronauts, students, teachers or scientists, among others, including the testimony of four Portuguese. Each of the testimonies is represented by the portrait of one of the “actors of change” who uses or benefits from space technology or applications that allow building an increasingly sustainable future.
The exhibition, which comprises 40 information panels with texts and photographs, is expanded into an online platform that enables an immersive experience. The platform features audio interviews, dedicated webinars and podcasts.
“It is very important for Portuguese Space Agency to be associated with this exhibition, which has been held in different places around the world. It reflects our strategy and the way we look to the potential of space, and how we should explore it to find sustainable solutions for our life on Earth”, points out Ricardo Conde.
“This exhibition aims to show citizens that Space is not only a source of inspiration and technological achievement, and only reachable by a few, but that it belongs to all and it is for all. The Space and the satellites allow us to better understand our ecosystems and improve our quality of life on Earth, in the most diverse areas. We hope that each person who visits this exhibition is able to be inspired by the testimonies of those who already use these resources in their activities, and by the incredible images that Space gives us of our Planet”, says Carolina Sá, Portuguese Space Agency’s Earth Observation project manager.
The Space for our Planet exhibition explains how Earth observation systems provide scientists with essential data on melting ice, rising sea levels and meteorological events that will help analyse the impact of climate change and anticipate solutions. The exhibition also shows how communication and geolocation satellites connect us to the most remote regions of the world, thus ensuring people have better access to health and education, and how astronomy can inspire younger generations and help reduce inequality.
The exhibition is curated by the astronomer Fiorella Coliolo and Benoit Delplanque (TIMKAT) and produced under the patronage of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). The exhibition’s founding partners are ESA and the European Commission, through DG DEFIS), later joined by the Portuguese Space Agency, and its counterparts in France (CNES), Italy (ASI), and Germany (DLR), as well as the Network of European Regions Using Space (NEREUS), of which the Autonomous Region of the Azores is a member, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the Canadian association GIVE.
