Report of the IAU General Assembly 2024 - IAU General Assembly 2024

The 32nd General Assembly (GA) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) was held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from the 6th to 15th August 2024. The South African National Research Foundation (NRF) was the principal host of this event, with support from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the African Astronomical Society (AfAS). This was the first time in the history of the IAU, since its establishment in 1919, that this triennial event was held on the African continent. As the African astronomy community, we wanted to use the GA to do more than any other science meeting — we wanted it to make an impact and change how the world saw Africa. This vision was capture in Vision 2024, a document that was initiated soon after the GA bid outcome was announced in 2018, shared widely and shaped openly by the astronomy community on the continent, to become our guiding ambition and spirit in all the work that followed.

In the end there was a total of 2648 participants (2045 in person and 603 virtual) from 107 countries (28 of those being African countries). There were 211 science sessions (including plenaries) and 16 poster sessions – all fully hybrid – as well as numerous other meetings, side events, social functions and outreach activities. There were 20 sponsors and 43 exhibitors. The immersive platform Spatial had over 4200 views, and there were over 1100 active members on Slack with 21733 messages sent throughout the event. The open access streams on YouTube had 20200 views and 374 subscribers. There were 8200 unique viewers and over 300 returning viewers. Media coverage was extensive with media monitoring services reporting total media circulation of 87,993,115. The extensive outreach and education activities during the GA reached around 28,000 school learners, 85 educators and around 3,800 general public. An extensive grants programme, funded by the IAU, Simons Foundation, DSI and a crowd funding campaign by LSST-DA, provided 901 grants to participants.

The event was the first ever open access IAU GA (sessions were streamed live on YouTube for free and are still available) and was opened by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. It was also the first ever fully hybrid poster session in a meeting of this sort, allowing poster presenters to be online on Zoom or in person. It was the first time any VR-compatible immersive platform (Spatial) was used for an IAU GA, and for the first time ever, there was a live radio broadcast (Radio Astro) for 8 hours per day on every day of the GA. Yet another first was the establishment of an African craft market within the venue itself, engaging local small business. The conference provided free child care and the extensive programme of social events ensured that participants were exposed to African culture (not just South Africa) as well as what can only be described as the humanity of scientists. This human touch was a highlight mentioned by many participants.

A highlight of the outreach and engagement efforts was that in celebration of Women’s Day on 9th August, there was a live link to the International Space Station where school children got to speak to astronaut Sunita Williams, while having astronauts Dr Mae Jemison and Dr Sian Proctor in the room in Cape Town.

Highlights

The event was opened by the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Bonginkosi Emmanuel “Blade” Nzimande. Later, the Deputy Minister, Ms. Nomalungela Gina, addressed participants at the Gala Dinner.
This was the first ever open access IAU GA (sessions were streamed live on YouTube for free and are still available).
We successfully carried out the first ever hybrid poster session in a meeting of this sort, with 100 Raspberry Pis running with webcams on 40” screens, allowing poster presenters to be online on Zoom or in person. The equipment will be donated to various schools and centres in underserved communities.
It was the first time any VR-compatible immersive platform (Spatial) was used for an IAU GA. This featured 15 custom Spatial spaces, including a Virtual Cosmic Echoes exhibition mirroring the physical exhibition.
For the first time ever we had a live radio broadcast (Radio Astro) for 8 hours per day on every day of the GA, using it also as a training platform for aspiring radio journalists, and generating content for community radio stations globally to use for free.
Yet another first was the establishment of a craft market within the venue itself, engaging local small business and allowing participants to meet and support South African entrepreneurs.
The conference provided free child care for all participants who wished to make use of it, in partnership with a local school.
In partnership with Wesgro (part of local government) there was a Space Industry reception which brought together local tech companies involved in the Space sector together with international organisations attending the GA such as NASA, NAOJ, ESA, etc.
A Special Breakfast Briefing was held as a cultivation event with funding prospects to discuss the future of African astronomy and sponsored by the British High Commission.
High profile speakers included Nobel Prize Winner Prof Brian Schmidt; the first African American Woman in Space Dr Mae Jemison; and the first African American Woman to Pilot a Spacecraft Dr Sian Proctor.
In celebration of Women’s Day on 9th August, we had a live link to the International Space Station where school learners got to speak to astronaut Sunita Willams, while having both Dr Mae Jemison and Dr Sian Proctor in the room.
The extensive programme of social events ensured that participants were exposed to African culture as well as what can only be described as the humanity of scientists. This human touch was a highlight mentioned by many participants.

Feedback

While informal comments and feedback from participants were received, the organising committee also sent out a formal feedback form for participants to provide input on their conference experience. A total of 547 participants (approximately 21% of all attendees) completed the form.
In the feedback form, participants were asked how many IAU General Assemblies (GAs) they had attended previously, and 344 participants indicated that the 2024 IAU General Assembly was their first.

Additionally, 58% of participants rated their overall experience of the GA as excellent, while the remaining participants rated it as above average; this feedback breakdown is displayed in the figure below. It is worth noting that of the 58% who rated their experience as excellent, approximately 20% were online participants.

Since the conference was hybrid, we were interested in knowing which attendance mode participants used. Notably, about 7% of participants attended both online and in-person. The breakdown of this feedback is shown below.

The whole event was driven by the core principles of accessibility, impact and sustainability, with foundations of innovation and technology, and a spirit of humility and kindness. Huge thanks must go to the incredible organizing team, beyond just the NOC, comprising largely of NRF staff and volunteers, who helped make it all happen. The success of the event was clear from the feedback received, with outgoing IAU President Debra Elmegreen calling it “the best General Assembly in the history of the IAU”.