Meet our Neighbours! presented at the XXIII edition of the Encontro Nacional de Astronomia e Astrofísica (ENAA) (National Meeting of Astronomy and Astrophysics) held in Lisbon, Portugal at the Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa on the 18th and 19th of July 2013. Check the presentation here: http://enaa2013.oal.ul.pt/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/04/LinaCanas.pdf

Our celestial neighbours payed a visit to Portuguese blind children on early July 2013. During the activities the children learnt all about our solar system neighbours, explored their main features, built tactile images and presented them to their peers.

The tactile image construction was carefully supervised by our team.

On the first session, the thirteen tactile images were presented to the children.

The children explored the different tactile images and their main features.

On the second session it was time for them to build the tactile images of their favourite celestial objects.

The children choose from different textures available, the ones they needed to build the tactile images.

On the third and final session, the children presented their images to their friends.

“Meet our neighbours!” was present at “Science on Stage” festival in Slubice, Poland.

The package with “Meet our neighbours!” material has arrived in South Africa! In collaboration with SALT Collateral Benefits Programme (www.saao.ac.za), OAD (Office of Astronomy for Development) and Athlone School for the Blind.

The materials to build tactile images from “Meet our neighbours!” project will travel with Breezy Ocaña Flaquer to Dominican Republic! Several activities of image construction will be carried by local teachers and students.

“Meet our neighbours!”- a tactile experience, plans to promote and provide inclusion activities for visually impaired children and their non-visually impaired peers through the use of astronomy hands-on low cost activities.