The Group represents the wider space science and STEM ecosystem of industry and research professionals, policy and decision making, formal and informal education, at national and international levels, and will be supporting OurSpace project along its 3-year journey.
With the aim of seeking expertise outside of the team, Our Space Our Future project invited a selected group of people to act as an advisory board, that will provide strategic ideas, knowledge and support the planned actions. They just met at the Welsh Government Office in Westminster, London, on 29th January, where they got updated in the project´s progress and discussed ways for effective collaboration.
Why are advisory boards important? Experts can complement the existing knowledge, providing focus and keeping the big picture. An advisory board can also challenge a team to move out of their comfort zone. With that in mind, two project partners, Explorer Dome and EIT Climate KIC, with the support of the whole consortium, worked on the constitution of the International Stakeholder Group.
It aims to constitute an interdisciplinary and inter-sectorial panel, composed of representatives from fields of space research, industry and education that align and support the vision of OurSpace. They will support the project providing guidance, overseeing the strategic development, promoting the project and making wider connections that will enhance and boost OurSpace´s learnings and legacy.
In the words of Simon Olling Rebsdorf, ESERO Denmark Manager “A great and truly inspiring meeting (…) I had such a great time, learned a lot, and enjoyed increasing my professional network with such inspiring and skilled people from all sorts of interesting paths and connections to the field of space and education”.
After the meeting, Kevin Ramírez, project manager at EIT Climate-KIC and Chair of this group, nicely summarized: “This meeting met our expectations! It allowed us to get to know the ISG members and better understand the work they conduct in their organisations and how they could support the development of the project. We also discovered a great group of human beings that showed interest in the project and I am sure we can count on them when their inputs are required.”
Shaaron Leverment, Explorer Dome manager and co-organiser of this meeting, share her thoughts enthusiastically: “We all feel it was a very useful and a truly joyous occasion – what a luxury to spend a day immersed in our project with such expertise! This day brought together ideas, skills, best practice and many excellent points of advice, support and opportunities for connections. It’s clear our International Stakeholders will continue to hugely enhance our programme through to 2021 and beyond!”