Annual Conference and General Assembly of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS-GA2022)

The Annual AfAS conference: AfAS2022
In line with the objectives of AfAS and its science strategy, it is now planned to hold the second AfAS annual conference from 14-18 March 2022. The conference will again focus on the science, outreach, communication, and education activities emanating from Astronomy in Africa and will seek to further enhance collaboration among countries in Africa as well as the rest of the world. It will also focus on the status of astronomy infrastructure, AfAS led flagship projects, astronomy for development, and initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining youth in astronomy and strengthening existing activities in the field. The conference will be organized with the involvement of all the AfAS committees and partner projects (the African Planetarium Association (APA), the African Science Stars Publication (ASSAP), and the African-European Radio Astronomy Platform (AERAP).

The General Assembly: AfAS-GA2022
The AfAS2021 General Business meeting acknowledged the good progress made by AfAS since the Astronomy in Africa meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa, at the South Africa Astronomical Observatory, from 25 to 26 March 2019. The meeting also took note of the status of the various committees and there were calls for further inputs and topics of interest from the community. Following the AfAS Constitution, a general assembly must be convened every three years, the next such event is due in March 2022, and this will be held immediately after the annual conference. The term of office of the current Executive Committee end on 31 March 2022, a new Executive Committee will therefore be elected at the General Assembly. The Membership Committee will use the General Assembly to provide an update of the membership status of the Society and present draft plans for the introduction of member benefits and membership fees from April 2023. Proposed changes to the Constitution will also be tabled for discussion and approval by the General Assembly.

Dates

14 – 18 March 2022

Format

The conference will be hybrid (online and physical), with the physical venue being the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town, South Africa. This is the same venue where AfAS was officially relaunched in March 2019. The proposed format for the conference is listed below:

• Day 1: (i) Short address by special guests who represent the major stakeholders of AfAS

           3 keynote talks on major topics/flagship projects

           (ii) Science talks 

• Day 2: Science, Education, Development, and Outreach 
• Day 3: Science, Education, Development, and Outreach 
• Day 4. Science, Education, Development, and Outreach 
• Day 5: AfAS2022-General Assembly, networking sessions, and Hackathon
• 21-22 March 2022 – Fund-raising workshop and visit to Sutherland telescope site

The keynote plenary talks will take place in the mornings, followed by parallel sessions which are more thematic. The Science, Education, Development, and Outreach sessions will include a variety of primarily invited talks and contributed posters. Interactive networking sessions, including the Hackathon, will promote discussions, stimulate conversations.

Venue

The physical venue will be the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) which will also serve as the host for the Control Centre for the virtual platform. The virtual platform will be contracted to an external service provider (probably the same provider as 2021). The proposed fundraising workshop and networking will take place at the SAAO in Sutherland. It is envisaged that, due to COVID regulations, a maximum of 40 delegates will be allowed to attend the event physically, this will be confirmed with SAAO Management.