Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

Join us for a conversation on space, alternative futures and the collective imagination. We will explore how we may expand our understanding of risk, resilience and opportunity in space as it relates to Indigenous cosmologies, security, resource utilization, global wealth inequity, and governance.
The history of astronomy wrestles with issues of the democratisation of space exploration and access. For some countries and organizations the frontier of space is a territory of significant resources. Industry and infrastructure have allowed them to become celestial voyagers. Others have taken the nascent steps of developing strategies to strengthen their space programs while some remain with their feet planted firmly, considering the expanse of the cosmos through myth, language, ritual and dreamscape. Indigenous people across the globe remain explorers of the mysteries that animate our skies through rich cultural cosmologies that have evolved over millennia of observation. Their knowledge reflects diverse ontologies that offer insight into radically different relationships that humans have evolved about space. This heritage rarely makes an appearance in mainstream discourses on space exploration. 
As humans become prominent actors in extraterrestrial realms, it stirs complex questions. Whose cultures are represented in relation to space? Can indigenous cosmologies offer nuanced cosmo-legal foundations to relate to space and celestial bodies? What does the democratisation of space mean? How does we begin to develop a framework for the decolonization of space research and exploration? 
This session will bring together a group of scientists, conservationists, legal scholars, and activists to explore how cultural ontologies of space can shape the discourse for an expansive and inclusive future of research, innovation and exploration.