Welcome to the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development!

http://iau.org/static/education/strategicplan_091001.pdf

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the single international organization of the world’s
professional astronomers. Its mission to promote astronomy and serve as a coordinating body for
international activity has evolved over the 90 years of the IAU’s existence. A substantial fraction
of its budget has traditionally gone to supporting professional symposia and other meetings that
bring astronomers together to debate ideas and discuss research results. Increasingly, the importance
of outreach and education of the public have taken up a larger fraction of the attention and
efforts of the Union.
The huge success of the IAU-sponsored and UN- and UNESCO-supported International Year of
Astronomy (IYA) 2009, which commemorates 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope to
the sky to make fundamental discoveries that changed people’s perceptions of the Universe, has
motivated the IAU to commit to even more ambitious programs of educating the world to the
beauty of the Universe and the sense of common humanity that derives from it. At our General
Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in August 2009 the Union approved this strategic plan for education
and development, which was formulated during the past two years by the members. It proposes a
range of programs that will stimulate the development of a generation of youth who will become
the science and technology leaders of their countries in future years.
Robert Williams,
President, IAU

http://www.astronomyfordevelopment.org/