Children and young people between the ages of 7 and 17 participated in the contest, who had to design an original patch that involved the role of women in space, identify the name of the mission together with a story that highlighted the importance of space for human life and why it is relevant that the activities are equitable in gender aspects.
In addition to Chile, the initiative is being carried out in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. In Chile, the contest received support from the Fundación Impulso Inicial of the Luksic Foundation, which financed 3 notebooks for the first three places in each category: “Infantil A” (7 to 9 years and 11 months), “Infantil B” (10 to 13 years and 11 months) and “Juvenil” (14 to 17 years and 11 months).
“The contest aims to bring boys and girls closer to talk about space through the arts and decrease the gender gap in the areas of science and engineering, looking to the stars. We believe it is very important that everyone is involved in this kind of topics, especially in a country where the sky is unique to discover the universe. We want the girls to be motivated so that they can also lead in these areas. This is an invitation to dream and that we can do great things”, says Carla Muttoni, founder of Rockets4ALL.
In Chile, the organizers have already announced the winners of the contest, who won over the jury with their originality, clarity and artistic harmony in their story. The representatives belong to the communes of Santiago, Coihueco, Combarbalá, Calama, Chillán and Ovalle and will be awarded this Friday, September 11 via Zoom.
“We are proud and happy to be able to support such an integral cause. Chile is a country that has many advantages for astronomy and it is important that the girls and boys of our country can dream of working in scientific careers. In addition, today there are several pending challenges regarding the gender gap and at Impulso Inicial we want to contribute to reduce it”, says Cristina Birrell, Executive Director of Fundación Impulso Inicial.
Now the winners from each country will have to compete against each other for the first place in Latin America at the awards ceremony to be held on October 9, during the World Space Week. The winning patch will be sent to Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), with the aim of raising the voice of the region’s children at the United Nations.
More information about the contest can be found on the official Rockets4ALL website.