On December 13, to celebrate the third edition of Italy’s National Space Day, the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa presented, in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a panel on the role of earth observation accompanied by “Looking Beyond” an exhibit of satellite images developed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Space Agency, and Telespazio/e-GEOS, and curated by renowned art curator Filippo Maggia.
The panel entitled “Earth Observation from Space: Challenges and Opportunities”, was moderated by Roberto Mazzolin of the RHEA Group (space services and cybersecurity) and brought together Italian and Canadian panelists from the Canadian Space Agency, the Council of Canadian Academies, the Aviation and Space Museum, IDS-North America Ltd. as well as the national capital’s two major universities (Carleton University and the University of Ottawa) to discuss challenges and prospects in this innovative sector: from research to security, from space ethics to space economy.
The event opened with a selection of videos from the “The Italian Spaceway”, an initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in partnership with the Italian Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Italian Space Agency, Leonardo, TeleSpazio, ThalesAlenia Space, and e-Geos, curated by and under the creative direction of Focus Magazine.
The National Space Day initiative and the exhibit, which closes December 20, seek to further strengthen cooperation and partnership between Italy and Canada, in the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Italian Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency in 2021.
“Looking Beyond”, aims to highlight Italian innovation and stimulate youth interest in Italy, and following a promotional campaign in Ottawa schools and universities, will host student delegations from secondary schools of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
