Dear all,

The RAS and the BGA warmly encourages geophysicists to take
part in the RAS 200 outreach project to celebrate the RAS' 200th
anniversary by introducing astronomy and geophysics to groups that
would not normally come into contact with them.

I had to remove the attachments from this message but if you
want them, i.e. the "outline proposal" and "timeline", please
reply to me or contact Sheila Kanani at the email address
given below.

Regards,
Sheila Peacock,
List co-owner; RAS Council member.


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RAS200 Town Hall Meetings
Date: 	Fri, 19 Sep 2014 11:39:23 +0000
From: 	Fern Storey <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: 	Sheila Kanani <[log in to unmask]>



*** Please note you are receiving this email as a Fellow of the RAS.
It is sent on behalf of the RAS200 Steering Group.
Please send all queries to Sheila Kanani [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ***

Dear Fellow,

*RAS 200: Sky and Earth*

As you will probably know by now, the Royal Astronomical Society is running a
major outreach and engagement programme, RAS 200: Sky and Earth, to commemorate
the Society’s 200th anniversary in 2020. In addition to this letter, you can find
details at www.ras.org.uk/200 <http://www.ras.org.uk/200>

With a budget of £1 million, RAS 200 is overseen by a Steering Group of past and
present Council members and staff who have collective experience in education,
public engagement, local and national government and of course astronomy, space
science and geophysics. Its aim is to fund around 10 projects to engage the wider
public with the sciences we support, with our key goal being to work with groups
that until now have been ‘hard to reach’.

To that end, we approached a diverse range of organisations where we have had
little or no involvement in the past, but that are well placed to work with the
wider community and who would be potential project partners or leads.

The next stage of the project will take place throughout the coming months, with
regional ‘Town Hall’ meetings taking place at a number of locations around the UK.
These will bring together potential national partners and / or their local
representatives with more local groups, who are likely to provide the volunteer
effort needed to make funded projects a success.

At the present time the *confirmed* meetings are as follows:

Location

	

Date

	

Venue

	

Time

Bristol

	

16th October

	

at Bristol

	

Evening

Winchester

	

22nd October

	

Intech

	

Afternoon/evening

Bradford

	

27th October

	

Town hall

	

Afternoon/evening

Leicester

	

6th November

	

National Space Centre

	

Evening

Edinburgh

	

13th November

	

Our Dynamic Earth

	

Afternoon/evening

Cheshire

	

23rd November

	

Jodrell Bank

	

Afternoon

Aberystwyth

	

29th November

	

tbc

	

Morning/afternoon

	

	

	

	

	

	

We also expect to have meetings in Reading, Glasgow, London, Cornwall and Northumberland.

Meetings will have a short overview of RAS 200, followed by initial pitches for ideas
and a networking session to allow partners to develop combined plans.

If there is a meeting local to you please do volunteer to help run the meeting.

If you cannot help to run the meeting, please attend the meeting that is closest to you
to help initiate networking and find new collaborators.

If there is a location that we have not yet covered we are willing to take suggestions and offers.

We will also be opening a two-stage process for applications for funding. Applicants will
submit an outline proposal by February 2015. A review group will select a subset of these
to go forward and submit a more detailed application. After a second review, the first set
of projects should receive funding from the spring of 2015. You will find attached the
outline proposal and timeline for proposals. For deadlines and other important dates
please also check www.ras.org.uk/200/ <http://www.ras.org.uk/200/>.

RAS 200 is one of the most ambitious projects the RAS has undertaken. We very much
welcome your support for and involvement in this exciting programme.

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Kanani

RAS 200 Steering Group

Dr Sheila Kanani

Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer

Royal Astronomical Society

www.ras.org.uk <http://www.ras.org.uk>

Tel: (+44) (0)207 734 4582 x207