This special session builds on three previous highly successful sessions at EAS2018 (SS23: Reflection on European - African research collaborations in astronomy and space science: opportunities, achievements, challenges, and needs), EAS2020 (SS15: Africa-European collaborations in astronomy and space science: room to grow), and EAS2022 (SS38: Africa-Europe collaborations: current status and the road to 2024). Astronomy is one of the emerging fields in Africa that experienced amazing developments over the last 10 years (see e.g., McBride et al. 2018, Povic et al. 2018). Collaborations with different European research centers, universities, societies, etc., played an important role in that. Over the last few years, many new initiatives and collaborations arose and have been presented and discussed during the last EAS annual meeting in Valencia. For example, the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) became a vibrant and dynamic society and its activities have been presented; South Africa won the bid to host the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA) in 2024 and had a dedicated lunch session; the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) was established and presented many of its activities including the launching of the very first awards for women in astronomy in Africa; different initiatives such as the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA), Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Sciences (AFIPS), and Pan-Africa Planetary and Space Science Network (PAPSSN), among others, presented their current status and many of the activities carried out through close collaborations between Africa and Europe. In addition to these, strong collaborations between the two continents in terms of the development of infrastructure in observational astronomy and site testing experienced also important developments and have been broadly discussed. We can confidently say that all organised Africa-Europe EAS special sessions played an important role in giving visibility to the current status of astronomy developments in Africa and joint initiatives with Europe, and contributed to strengthening the links between the two continents.

The 2024 year will be of particular importance for the astronomy developments in Africa and worldwide since the next IAU GA will be hosted by South Africa. It will be for the first time that GA is organised in Africa over the past 100 years of the IAU, bringing together the largest number of astronomers across the world to the African continent. We expect that this event will burst the astronomy developments across the continent in all possible aspects, from research and infrastructure developments to education and outreach, strengthening the initiatives that are already running, strengthening international collaborations between Africa, Europe and the rest of the world, but also contributing to astronomy developments in those countries where still there is no much of astronomy. Many expectations and enthusiasm are there regarding the 2024 GA, which can be seen in the community-developed Vision 2024 document (https://astronomy2024.org/vision-2024/) that is freely available and that is under constant development, summarising all of the objectives behind the GA.

In this special session, the focus will be on specific initiatives that cement the strong and growing collaborative relationships between Europe and Africa in astronomy. Using the approaching GA2024 as a driver, the special session will provide an opportunity to highlight new initiatives and build on existing activities as we advance the community-driven Vision 2024.

Programme

• Block 1: science and infrastructure developments.
• Block 2: education, outreach and public awareness.
• Block 3: Astronomy for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and strategies for bringing astronomy everywhere. Engagement with policy-makers.

Invited speakers

Under the progress.

Scientific organisers

• Mirjana Povic, F (SSGI, Ethiopia and IAA-CSIC, Spain), co-chair
• Vanessa McBride, F (IAU-OAD, SAAO/IAUGA2024, South Africa), co-chair
• Charles Takalana, M (AfAS, South Africa), co-chair
• Kevin Govender, M (IAU-OAD, South Africa), co-chair
• David Baratoux, M (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire and Geosciences Environnnement Toulouse-CNRS, France)
• Zouhair Benkhaldoun, M (Oukaimeden Observatory and UCA, Morocco)
• Bonita de Swardt, F (SARAO, NRF, South Africa)
• Bradley Frank, M (UCT, South Africa)
• Declan Kirrane, M (AERAP, Belgium)
• Niruj Mohan Ramanujam, M (NCRA, India)
• Priscila Muheki, F (MUST, Uganda)
• Bonaventure Okere, M (Center for Basic Space Science (CBSS) and WA-ROAD, Nigeria)
• Somaya Saad, F (NRIAG, Egypt)
• Michelle Willebrands, F (E-ROAD, The Netherlands)

Contact

Mirjana Povic (mpovic @ iaa.es), Vanessa McBride (vanessa @ astro4dev.org)