For information only - not an official document

UNIS/OS/476
5 October 2016

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Peace and Cooperation Foundation announce launch of School Award "Looking at the Stars: The Future of the World"

VIENNA, 5 October (UN Information Service) - The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Peace and Cooperation Foundation today announced the launch of the 2017 Peace and Cooperation School Award "Looking at the Stars: The Future of the World".

The goal of the School Award is to raise awareness about global social topics among children. Students from around the world are invited to submit art that reflects current social problems and how the exploration of space can bring benefits to humankind. The winners will be announced in October 2017.

"This is a great initiative to combine art and science to demonstrate the value of space technology in improving lives around the world," said Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA.

The launch of the global art competition takes place during the World Space Week, which is observed every year between 4 and 10 October. During this time the various contributions of space science and technology to humankind are celebrated internationally.

The School Award competition is supported by the Permanent Mission of Spain to the United Nations in Vienna. The Award was launched at the United Nations in Vienna in the presence of UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations in Vienna Gonzalo de Salazar Serantes, Paz y Cooperacion founder Joaquín Antuña, Elvira Sanchez-Igual from the Asociación Mundial de Educadores Infantiles-World Association of Early Educators. Cosmonauts Georgi Ivanov, Viktor Savinykh and Toktar Aubakirov were also in attendance as part of the Association of Space Explorers' community day.

Students can submit their art work for consideration for the School Award before 5 July 2017 to the Peace and Cooperation Foundation, Meléndez Valdés 68-4, 28015 Madrid, Spain.

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For further information, please contact:

Daria Brankin
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
Telephone: (+43) 699 1459 8718
Email: daria.brankin[at]unoosa.org