Vision, Mission, Goals & Deliverables

The Hubble Space Telescope has undoubtedly had a greater public impact than any other space astronomy mission ever. The images […] are quite staggering in what they reveal about the Universe we live in and have already become part of our common scientific and cultural heritage.

Malcolm Longair

Vision

To excel in science communication and stay a powerhouse in the field especially within the areas of visual science communication, popular science writing and innovative knowledge management.

Mission

To serve the community of astronomers, journalists, teachers and laypeople with the best possible science communication products, as efficiently as possible, and adapt our strategies to suit the needs of the target group whenever needed
Increase the awareness of ESA
Inform about the (European) results from HST
Increase the awareness of astronomy and the scientific work process
Implement IYA2009
Increase the awareness of the IAU
Contribute towards strengthening the European and global astronomy communication community

Objectives & Deliverables

Ranking	Objective	Deliverable
Must-haves	1. Publish and distribute world-class news/photo releases and vodcasts with European flavour per year.	~15 News, photo and video releases on the web and in printed form.
	2. Develop and maintain the necessary web sites to support the HEIC mission, including a complete user-friendly archive of Hubble outreach material in optimal resolution and quality.	Number of web sites Number of web archives and items in them: images, videos, brochures etc.
	3. Rapid response hotline to requests from media, scientists, educators and public	Number of requests Request response time.
	4. Coordinate and implement the IYA2009 programme: Support SPoCs, task groups, astronomy community, media and society in IYA2009 related issues	Main IYA2009 Website Number of National and Organisational SPoCs Number of Organisational Associates Number of global events Number of cornerstones Number of Sponsors Number of requests Request response time. Number of products: brochures, newsletters, design kits etc.
	5. Run the IAU Press Office	Number or press releases Number of web pages etc. Number of journalists at the GA
Want-to-haves	6. Support Space Telescope-European Coordinating Facility activities.	Number of products: newsletters, scientists’ posters, web sites, logos etc.
	7. Train and publish: Be a recognized science communication training facility for students, other communicators and for scientists.	Number of students trained. Number of science communicators trained. Number of scientists trained. Number of reports and scientific publications in science communication and visualization journals.
	8. Explore and develop innovative groundbreaking astronomy communication techniques and tools, especially with respect to visualization, information retrieval and interconnectivity.	Number and quality of visualization techniques developed (3D, 2D etc.). Image quality. Time from raw data to final image. Number and quality of S/W tools developed (Photoshop plug-ins, web systems etc.).
	9. Be one of the main actors in selected IYA2009 Global Cornerstone Projects	Number of IYA2009 Global Cornerstone Projects carried out Number of participants Number of products
Nice-to-haves	10. Be one of the main actors in the worldwide coordination of astronomy communication through the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for instance by developing technical standards for science communication, standards for best practice in science communication.	IAU support IAU websites. IAU repositories. WGCAP progress reports. List of standards, lists of best practices
	11. Educational projects.	Number of exercises and other materials for teachers. Number of teacher’s trained.
	12. Exhibitions.	Number of exhibitions done in-house. Number of exhibitions done with external partners.
	13. Special products development.	Number of products: DVDs, non-news animations, fulldome animations, art exhibits, posters, postcards..
	14. Support European Virtual Observatory (EURO-VO) and International Virtual Observatory Alliance activities.	Number of web sites, tools, hand-outs etc.